Our task this week consisted in analysing media narratives in order to see how far Todorov’s linear narrative structure and
Propp’s notion of character functions and narrative units apply to three different texts. The media objects I have chosen are
The Ultimate Survival, Big Brother, Toothpaste advert.
Our task this week consisted in analysing media narratives in order to see how far Todorov’s linear narrative structure and Propp’s notion of character functions and narrative units apply to three different texts. The media objects I have chosen are: The Ultimate Survival, Big Brother, Toothpaste advert.
1. The Ultimate Survival or Man vs. Wild is a survival television series hosted by Bear Grylls. The general format of each episode is the premise that Grylls is left stranded in a region.
The episode documents his efforts to survive and find a way back to civilization, usually requiring an overnight shelter of some kind. Bear also tells about successful and failed survivals in the particular area which he is in. This is a mixture of factual and fictional because there are the reals factors involved: he has to hunt, loook for the wild animals and there’s the fictional part because we all know that he is not really lost and he is not alone (there are camera guys and so on).
Here can be easily spotted Todorov’s narrative structure: equilibrium: Bear Grylls setting on a new adventure explaining the following location, equipment etc.
Disruption: he faces his first obstacles (harsh weather, hunger, wild animals)
Recognition: he realises the situatiopn he is in and sometimes “speaks” with the audience.
Attempt: using the resources he has he tries to hunt in order to eat, dig for water, start a fire…
Enhanced equilibrium: he survives the challenge and returns home.
Although the show fits Todorov’s division of the narrative structure, you can not find Propp’s character functions.
There is a hero, Bear Grylls, but ther are no villans or donors, fathers and so on.
2. Big Brother started as a regular tv show in the Netherlands in 1999 and soon became a worldwide sensation. Almost every country in the Eu and some in Africa and Asia started their own versions of the reality show. Although it is not a Hollywood film, the show follows the narrative structure mentioned above.
Equilibrum: a group of people live together in a large house, isolated from the outside world but continuously watched
by television cameras.
Disruption: all sorts of conflicts start to appear
Recognition: some of them may express their feelings regarding the others
Attempt: everybody tries to be nice and get along with the others in order to stay longer in the house and win the competition.
Enhanced equilibrium: the last remaining contestant wins the show.
As well as in the first case, Propp’s character divison is not present.
3. Unfortunately I can not remember which toothpaste the advert was about but is goes like this: a beautiful girl walking through a grain land, her hair blown by the wind (equilibrium) and suddenly she turns around and smiles but surprise, she is missing a tooth! (disruption). The recognition comes when she realises she can do something about and that is using the X toothpaste (attempt). The enhanced equilibrium comes as usually in the end when she has a beautiful smile, no tooth missing.
In this advert we can distinguish a hero, the young girl, a helper in the image of the toothpaste, but we can not say that it accomplishes all of Propp’s narrative functions.
One media object that does not folllow neither Todorov’s structure nor Propp’s functions is the weather forecasts. We do have a narrative, a story, but it does not follow Todorov’s pattern. As far as Propp is concerned, we do not have any characters, hence no narrative functions.
