Valdimir Propp

Vladimir Propp's Theory Vladimir Propp was a Russian critic who created a theory based on the structure of stories. With this theory of narrative, he examined 100's of folk tales to look for similarities. His book was published in 1928 and it contained an analysis of elements in these stories that had connections. He came up with 8 different character roles in these stories and these were: The Villain(s)- The person who will go all out to defeat the hero. The Hero- The person(s) that progress and go on a journey. The donor- prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object. The helper- helps the hero with the quest and journey that they are going on. The princess/princess- the person the hero may end up with and the reward for the hero and the person who the villain schemes against. Her father- rewards the hero. The dispatcher- sets the hero on his/her way to carry on in completing their goal. The false hero- Takes the credit for all of the hard work of the hero to impress other characters


This theory can also be related to today's music videos. The artist Ne-Yo, has a music video called 'So Sick', this video is an example where it has amplification of the narrative and this is shown through character's such as the main singer Ne-Yo which is villain and the girl in the video which is the princess who has bin hurt.