Study of Proppian Analysis as Applied to film.
Course: Film and Television Production BA
Name of Module: Story, Structure and Style
Module Code: 2FTP514.1
Name of Student: Ashwin Arvind
Email Address Of Student: Arvind.Ashwin@gmail.com
Assignment: How can Vladimir Propp’s analysis of fairytale or folktale narratives help in understanding how film stories work?
Word Count: 1526 Essay
It’s interesting to see how the work of Vladimir Propp and his study of the Russian folktales has provided such rich and diverse grounds for analyzing film narrative. That a set of laws, neatly defined to suit one narrative medium, can be applied to another is not unlike comparing apples and oranges and concluding, ‘Now that I know how the apple tastes, I can appreciated the orange better.’ Flippant as that comparison sounds, it’s not far from the case. Propp’s 31 functions were identified originally in a specific style of Russian Folktale known as the ‘Wundertale’ (which would translate as fairytale). Outwardly containing various and largely fantastic events such as dragons, magic beans and faithful animal companions, Propp found that all stories revolved around a central quest: A hero attempting to liquidate a villainy or a lack and eventually prove himself worthy to marry.
Although this plot easily and directly applied to the hundred stories Propp studied, was its reach larger than that? Observing the narratives of various films in the context of Propp’s Morphology, we can hope to come to some conclusions of the matter. But before I go further, I want to discard the often-repeated claim that Propp had discovered in his 31 functions the fundamental functions of all narrative arcs. Propp himself claims that his analysis was purely taxonomic and confined to the texts he had studied. He likened his analysis to botany, and merely identified the attributes of the Wundertale and grouped them together. He also clearly rejects the notion that his characterizations would work for other narratives such as religious
Name of Module: Story, Structure and Style
Module Code: 2FTP514.1
Name of Student: Ashwin Arvind
Email Address Of Student: Arvind.Ashwin@gmail.com
Assignment: How can Vladimir Propp’s analysis of fairytale or folktale narratives help in understanding how film stories work?
Word Count: 1526 Essay
It’s interesting to see how the work of Vladimir Propp and his study of the Russian folktales has provided such rich and diverse grounds for analyzing film narrative. That a set of laws, neatly defined to suit one narrative medium, can be applied to another is not unlike comparing apples and oranges and concluding, ‘Now that I know how the apple tastes, I can appreciated the orange better.’ Flippant as that comparison sounds, it’s not far from the case. Propp’s 31 functions were identified originally in a specific style of Russian Folktale known as the ‘Wundertale’ (which would translate as fairytale). Outwardly containing various and largely fantastic events such as dragons, magic beans and faithful animal companions, Propp found that all stories revolved around a central quest: A hero attempting to liquidate a villainy or a lack and eventually prove himself worthy to marry.
Although this plot easily and directly applied to the hundred stories Propp studied, was its reach larger than that? Observing the narratives of various films in the context of Propp’s Morphology, we can hope to come to some conclusions of the matter. But before I go further, I want to discard the often-repeated claim that Propp had discovered in his 31 functions the fundamental functions of all narrative arcs. Propp himself claims that his analysis was purely taxonomic and confined to the texts he had studied. He likened his analysis to botany, and merely identified the attributes of the Wundertale and grouped them together. He also clearly rejects the notion that his characterizations would work for other narratives such as religious
Bibliography: Wollen, P. (1982). Readings And Writings. London: Verso Editions and NLB. Thompson, K. (1999). Storytelling in New Hollywood. London: Harvard University Press. Eagleton, T. (1983). Literary Theory. Oxford: BlackWell. Oxford University. (1998). Oxford Guide To Film Studies. (J. Hill, & P. C. Gibson, Eds.) Oxford: Oxford University Press. Bordwell, D. (1988). ApProppriations and ImProppriaties. Cinema Journal , 27 (No.3), 5-20. Fell, J. L. (1977). Vladmimir Propp in Hollywood. Film Quarterly , 30 (3), 19-28. Propp, V. (1968). Morphology of the Folktale. Austin: University of Texas Press.