Learner Resource12‒Narrative

Storytelling is central to human experience and consciousness. Stories help us to understand our place and the places of others in the world: the roles we occupy; the actions we take; the consequences of these actions; and the happy-ever-afters, or not as the case may be.

Every story needs a ‘hero’. What does this word mean to you? What are its connotations?

How does the ‘hero’ notion operate in the two advertising examples provided ‘Active Defence against Everyday Sugars’ and Mr Muscle ?

You might have noticed that beyond the ‘hero’ notion in these texts, there is the potential for the construction of a ‘mini-narrative’. Are there other elements of storytelling feature in these two examples?

A cue (a word or visual) causes the implied reader to ‘fill in’ the remainder of the narrative. In many of the ‘mini-narratives’ in adverts, the product or brand becomes the archetypal ‘helper’ of the narrative’s ‘hero’ (i.e. the product’s consumer) that helps them to overcome the ‘villain’.

These ideas come from ‘character theory’ – which are ways that theorists have boiled down a diverse range of stories to their key components in order to understand the structure of different types of media and the functions that the character plays in them. These terms come from Vladimir Propp, but there are others:

Propp’s Narrative Theory recognises 7 character ‘types’:

  1. The hero (AKA victim/seeker/paladin/winner), reacts to the donor, weds the princess.
  2. The villain (struggles against the hero).
  3. Thedonor(prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object).
  4. The (magical) helper (helps the hero in the quest).
  5. The princess (person the hero marries, often sought for during the narrative).
  6. The false hero (perceived as good character in beginning but emerges as evil).
  7. The dispatcher (character who makes the lack known and sends the hero off).

Version 11© OCR 2017

Linguistic variations of power

Activity

It’s not just adverts that do this. Many news stories make powerful use of narrative.

How can you apply Propp’s narrative theory on character functions to two front pages of newspapers – your teacher will show you where to look.

Many texts offer cues to pragmatically remind us of a well-known narrative. Somenarrativesare so embedded in society that they have entered the region of mythical narratives or just ‘myths’ - they are unrealistically ideal so their meaning is ‘mythical’. These are powerful ideological tools that can reinforce ways of thinking - often ways that are stereotypical.

Look at the magazine cover and article at .

Mary Donaldson was born in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia and was an account director after gaining a degree in commerce and law. One day, she met a man called Frederik in a pub in Sydney. This moment changed her life; they eventually married and now she is in line to become the Queen consort of Denmark. In terms of mythical stories, does this one ring any bells?

Have a look at the John Lewis ad from Xmas 2014. How many of these narratives of ‘cultural myths’ can you see at work?

Version 11© OCR 2017

Linguistic variations of power