Narrative

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narrative http://www.mediaknowall.com/as_alevel/alevkeyconcepts/alevelkeycon.php?pageID=nar rative A narrative is constructed of a sequence of events, it is the organisation given to a sequence of facts. This is vital as we need to find sense in things, thus search different stages in a narrative, and identify events and make connections between them. Our past experiences, of both past texts and reality affect how we interpret and understand texts. A narrative can also be a synonym for a story, however Fiske in Key Concepts on Communication argued them to be different "Story is the irreducible substance of a story (A meets B, something happens, order returns), while narrative is the way the story is related (Once upon a time there was a princess...)" Narrative includes four main codes and conventions, genre, time, character, and form. The knowledge of these enables us to further interpret a text.

Narrative Theory
Vladimir Propp he analysed folk tales and claimed there to be a consistent framework throughout them all. He categories 31 narrative functions that he believed could be applied to every narrative, and each time one occurs this drives the narrative forwards.
A member of a family leaves home (the hero is introduced as a unique person within the tribe, whose needs may not be met by remaining) An interdiction (a command NOT to do something e.g.'don't go there', 'go to this place'), is addressed to the hero; The hero ignores the interdiction The villain appears and (either villain tries to find the children/jewels etc; or intended victim encounters the villain); The villain gains information about the victim; The villain attempts to deceive the victim to take possession of victim or victim's belongings (trickery; villain disguised, tries to win confidence of victim); The victim is fooled by the villain, unwittingly helps the enemy; Villain causes harm/injury to family/tribe member (by abduction, theft of magical agent, spoiling crops, plunders in other forms, causes a disappearance, expels someone, casts spell on someone, substitutes child etc, commits murder, imprisons/detains someone, threatens forced marriage, provides nightly torments); Alternatively, a member of family lacks something or desires something (magical potion etc); Misfortune or lack is made known, (hero is dispatched, hears call for help etc/ alternative is that victimised hero is sent away, freed from imprisonment); Seeker agrees to, or decides upon counter-action; Hero leaves home; Hero is tested, interrogated, attacked etc, preparing the way for his/her receiving magical agent or helper (donor);

Narrative Theory
Hero reacts to actions of future donor (withstands/fails the test, frees captive, reconciles disputants, performs service, uses adversary's powers against them); Hero acquires use of a magical agent (it's directly transferred, located, purchased, prepared, spontaneously appears, is eaten/drunk, or offered by other characters); Hero is transferred, delivered or led to whereabouts of an object of the search; Hero and villain join in direct combat; Hero is branded (wounded/marked, receives ring or scarf); Villain is defeated (killed in combat, defeated in contest, killed while asleep, banished); Initial misfortune or lack is resolved (object of search distributed, spell broken, slain person revived, captive freed); Hero returns; Hero is pursued (pursuer tries to kill, eat, undermine the hero); Hero is rescued from pursuit (obstacles delay pursuer, hero hides or is hidden, hero transforms unrecognisably, hero saved from attempt on his/her life); Hero unrecognised, arrives home or in another country; False hero presents unfounded claims; Difficult task proposed to the hero (trial by ordeal, riddles, test of strength/endurance, other tasks); Task is resolved; Hero is recognised (by mark, brand, or thing given to him/her); False hero or villain is exposed; Hero is given a new appearance (is made whole, handsome, new garments etc); Villain is punished; Hero marries and ascends the throne (is rewarded/promoted).

Narrative Theory
Propp - He also argued that characters could fit into a number of categories he stated, due to their role and function in the narrative. These include the hero (the protagonist) the villain (also known as the antagonist, the character that fights against the hero), the donor, the helper and the princess (who essentially exists as a goal and often marries the hero or punishes the villain at the end of the narrative. Tvzetan Todorov suggested that every narrative consists simply of an equilibrium (beginning where everything is balanced), disequilibrium (disruption of the equilibrium- an event causes things to go out of balance) and the new equilibrium (ending, where a new balance is created and peace restored though they may not be the same as the new equilibrium) Levi-Strauss emphasised the importance of conflicts and oppositions in narrative, binary opposites. Each enforces the other, for example thinking of poverty will enforce the impact of the idea of wealth as they contrast.

Audience Theory
http://www.mediaknowall.com/as_alevel/alevkeyconcepts/alevelkeycon.php?pageID=audie nce An audience is those who consume the media text. Texts need audiences to realise their potential meaning, a text s meaning can be defined by not only itself but by the audience who interprets it. Uses and Gratifications this theory states that there are 4 reasons for which we consume media texts .Entertainment this also offers escapism for the audience from their busy everyday lives so they can relax and enjoy the media text .Information .Personal Identity learning behaviour and values from texts, you may be able to relate to them or they may reinforce values and beliefs you already have .Personal Relationships use of the media to form relationships with others through similar interests and bonding over media subjects Hypodermic needle theory - This is a fairly negative theory concerned with how we respond to the media and as a passive audience can be manipulated by such media texts. This can consequently affects our behaviour, with our experience, intelligence and opinion being irrelevant to the reception of the text. An example of this would be a fashion magazine negatively affecting a teenager in terms of encouraging eating disorders because the teenager sees the model in a media text as skinny and she is also successful therefore adapts her own behaviour to become skinny.

Audience Theory
Two step flow - this theory suggests that information from the media does not flow directly from the text into the minds of its audience unmediated but is filtered through "opinion leaders" who then communicate it to their less active associates, over whom they have influence. The audience then mediate the information received directly from the media with the ideas and thoughts expressed by the opinion leaders, thus being influenced not by a direct process, but by a two step flow. http://www.scribd.com/doc/57871279/TSCT Short paper by Sarah Griswold Reception Theory - This theory refers to Hall's encoding/decoding model of the relationship between text and audience - the text is encoded by the producer, and decoded by the reader, and there may be major differences between two different readings of the same code. However, by using recognised codes and conventions, and by drawing upon audience expectations relating to aspects such as genre and use of stars, the producers can position the audience and thus create a certain amount of agreement on what the code means. This is known as a preferred reading.

Representation
All media texts are representations of the world, and are therefore artificial versions of the reality we perceive around us. This applies to all media texts, they are all representations of someone's concept of existence, through a series of signs a symbols this can be read by the audience. It has been argued that such artificial texts are vital in mediating our views of the world, as without it our perception of reality if fairly limited. Therefore, it has been argued that representation is a fluid two way process; produces produce a text reflecting reality and the audience asses and interpret the text on its relationship to reality. This implies we need the media to make sense of reality. However the extent to which the media is biased and sometimes fictional must be questioned as the media exerts a lot of influence over people and therefore can manufacture stereotypes. There are many issues that are often represented in the media and sometimes biased r give things a positive and negative image, such as race, class, disability and gender. Therefore in order to assess the different layers of truth or fiction within a media text we must consider key points about it e.g. Who produced it? Or how and why is this person being represented