Narrative Theory - The Shining

Vladimir Propp
Claude Levi-Strauss
Bordwell and Thompson
Tzvetan Todorov


These four theorists respectively suggested several formulas and conventions within story-telling. These four theories were tested using out set film The Shining.

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Vladimir Propp is a Russian critic who studied hundreds of folk tales and identified recurring character roles and narrative functions. He said that the eight characters used in every story included;

Villain - The antagonist. The bad guy.

Hero - The protagonist. Often the main character.

Donor - Provides an object with a magical property.

Helper - Aids the hero in his quest.

Princess (with father) - The reward for the hero.

Dispatcher - The person who sends the hero on his way.

False hero - The person who fails at being the hero, or attemptsto take credit for the hero's work.

Some characters may fit into more than one category and similarly, one category may have more than one character. He noted that there were 6 "spheres" of action;

Preparation

Complication

Transference

Struggle

Return

Recognition

These all feature narrative units,which drive the plot of the story. Altogether there are 31 of these, and most can be applied to most movies.


We put Propp's theory to the test whilst viewing The Shining. We managed to assign each of the characters to his either character roles.



Villain - The hotel/Jack
Hero - Danny/Wendy
Donor - Hotel owner/Dick
Helper - Tony
"Princess" (with "father") - Wendy (with Jack)
Dispatcher - Hotel owner/Grady/Jack
False Hero - Jack/Dick

His "spheres" of action theory was also tested. And of the 31 narrative units, The Shining featured 17 of them. This theory is supported, however it demonstrates that some "spheres" are not entirely necessary in the story (In our film, there is no "return" sphereand only one unit from the "recognition" sphere).


So this both supports that the theory is a useful and relevant one, in that many of the units were applied, and whilst it could be rejected because not all spheres and units are used, we can't expect every film to follow every unit and sphere.

I think this proves to be an incredibly helpful theory in the creation and analysis of a story, and offers many multiple perspectives on the narrative when looked at closely. Though, as with all of these theories, I find it to be a very obvious theory.

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Claude Levi-Strauss looked at narrative structure in terms of binary oppositions, which are opposite values that show the structure of the film, including themes and issues. Unlike the other theorists, Levi-Strauss did not look at the order in which they were arranged, but that they appeared. Binary oppositions that feature in horror films often include;

Natural v Supernatural

Good v Evil

Known v Unknown

These may be used to mislead the audience in some way. for example, a person who we thought of as initially "good", could turn out to be evil. There are so many binary oppositions, it's almost impossible to have a film that does not feature at least one.

When this theory was applied to The Shining, we saw many oppositions appear. This supports Levi-Strauss' theory.

Good v Evil

Known v Unknown

Past v Present

Harmless v Harmful

Man v Woman/ Man v Boy

This theory is helpful as it allows us to unpack the underlying themes behind the film, as well as the characters themselves. Though the theory of opposites conflicting also seems very basic.

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Bordwell and Thompson said that narrative was defined as "A chain of events in a cause-effect relationship, occurring in time and space". The idea is that narrative begins with one situation, then a change occurs to create another situation. And there are several occurrences that alter the story. There are also several editing techniques that manipulate our reading of the story, such as montages, flashbacks, replays, slow motion and other anti-linear editing techniques.

These were applied to The Shining too. Whilst there was a line of cause/effect relationships, we still manage to make as much sense of it as we can. Whilst we know that Jack goes insane, we do not know why he does. The line isn't always clear, which manipulates our reading of the scene. This could be considered a good thing becauseit enables us to interact with the film in the hopes of making the unknown connections clearer. So The Shining does support the theory of Bordwell and Thompson.

This theory doesn't seem to tell us anything in particular about the film that isn't common sense. Ultimately I think this is just a more in-depth version of Todorov's theory (below)

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Tzvetan Todorov basically said that films follow a structure that is as follows;

Initial equilibrium

Disruption in equilibrium

Pathway to resolution

New equilibrium

This was applied to The Shining

Initial equilibrium - Jack, Wendy and Danny are a happy family.

Disruption - Jack gets a job in a hotel, Danny begins to see visions, Jack begins to mentally deteriorate, jack begins to see visions and ghosts.

Pathway to resolution - Wendy and Danny attempts to escape from Jack.

New equilibrium - Danny and Wendy have ecscaped and Jack dies.

This idea seems very vague and simple. I don't believe that this helps or benefits us at all, in that this is already universally understood.