Thursday 23 October 2008

Tzvetan Todorov

Tzvetan Todorov’s theory is quite interesting as almost every film I have seen sticks to it and I'm sure some of the people who made the films were unaware that it even exists because I certainly hadn't heard of it before now yet in every story I can remember ever writing has stuck to this simple pattern.

Todorov's theory is that a narrative has five parts. The story always starts and ends in a state of equilibrium but, unlike in something like The Simpsons, the final equilibrium is usually different to the beginning one.

The five stages:

  1. A state of equilibrium
  2. A disruption of that order by an event
  3. A recognition that the disorder has occurred
  4. An attempt to repair the damage of the disruption
  5. A return or restoration of a NEW equilibrium

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