Vladimir Propp and the Morphology of the Folk Tale
Got your attention? Good. You’re probably wondering what the hell does this Propp fellow have to do with screenwriting. Good question. A little backstory…
On my long commute to work I will sometimes listen to CDs from The Teaching Company — mostly historical in nature (I love Early Middle Age England) — but I digress. The last set of CDs I purchased — titled: Masterpieces of the Imaginative Mind — discusses the literature of the fantastic (from the brothers Grimm to Asimov). Somewhere on the first CD the instructor mentions Vlad Propp and his ideas on story structure. Hmmmmm, I say to myself — on these long commutes I DO talk to myself — this sounds worth looking in to. And I did. Here is what I found out about good ol’ Mr. Propp over on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Propp)
In a nutshell…. Vlad broke Russian fairy tales down and discovered the all had a specific sequence of structures. Thirty-one to be exact. Not all thirty-one narrative structures where in every tale, but, he found that all the tales he analyzed displayed some subset of those functions. The list is long:
- ABSENTATION: A member of a family leaves the security of the home environment. This may be the hero or some other member of the family that the hero will later need to rescue. This division of the cohesive family injects initial tension into the storyline. The hero may also be introduced here, often being shown as an ordinary person.
- INTERDICTION: An interdiction is addressed to the hero (’don’t go there’, ‘don’t do this’). The hero is warned against some action (given an ‘interdiction’).
- VIOLATION of INTERDICTION. The interdiction is violated (villain enters the tale). This generally proves to be a bad move and the villain enters the story, although not necessarily confronting the hero. Perhaps they are just a lurking presence or perhaps they attack the family whilst the hero is away.
- RECONNAISSANCE: The villain makes an attempt at reconnaissance (either villain tries to find the children/jewels etc.; or intended victim questions the villain). The villain (often in disguise) makes an active attempt at seeking information, for example searching for something valuable or trying to actively capture someone. They may speak with a member of the family who innocently divulges information. They may also seek to meet the hero, perhaps knowing already the hero is special in some way.
- DELIVERY: The villain gains information about the victim. The villain’s seeking now pays off and he or she now acquires some form of information, often about the hero or victim. Other information can be gained, for example about a map or treasure location.
- TRICKERY: 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 villain now presses further, often using the information gained in seeking to deceive the hero or victim in some way, perhaps appearing in disguise. This may include capture of the victim, getting the hero to give the villain something or persuading them that the villain is actually a friend and thereby gaining collaboration.
- COMPLICITY: Victim taken in by deception, unwittingly helping the enemy. The trickery of the villain now works and the hero or victim naively acts in a way that helps the villain. This may range from providing the villain with something (perhaps a map or magical weapon) to actively working against good people (perhaps the villain has persuaded the hero that these other people are actually bad).
- VILLAINY or LACK: Villain causes harm/injury to family 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.). There are two options for this function, either or both of which may appear in the story. In the first option, the villain causes some kind of harm, for example carrying away a victim or the desired magical object (which must be then be retrieved). In the second option, a sense of lack is identified, for example in the hero’s family or within a community, whereby something is identified as lost or something becomes desirable for some reason, for example a magical object that will save people in some way.
- MEDIATION: Misfortune or lack is made known, (hero is dispatched, hears call for help etc./ alternative is that victimized hero is sent away, freed from imprisonment). The hero now discovers the act of villainy or lack, perhaps finding their family or community devastated or caught up in a state of anguish and woe.
- BEGINNING COUNTER-ACTION: Seeker agrees to, or decides upon counteraction. The hero now decides to act in a way that will resolve the lack, for example finding a needed magical item, rescuing those who are captured or otherwise defeating the villain. This is a defining moment for the hero as this is the decision that sets the course of future actions and by which a previously ordinary person takes on the mantle of heroism.
- DEPARTURE: Hero leaves home;
- FIRST FUNCTION OF THE DONOR: Hero is tested, interrogated, attacked etc., preparing the way for his/her receiving magical agent or helper (donor);
- HERO’S REACTION: Hero reacts to actions of future donor (withstands/fails the test, frees captive, reconciles disputants, performs service, uses adversary’s powers against him);
- RECEIPT OF A MAGICAL AGENT: Hero acquires use of a magical agent (directly transferred, located, purchased, prepared, spontaneously appears, eaten/drunk, help offered by other characters);
- GUIDANCE: Hero is transferred, delivered or led to whereabouts of an object of the search;
- STRUGGLE: Hero and villain join in direct combat;
- BRANDING: Hero is branded (wounded/marked, receives ring or scarf);
- VICTORY: Villain is defeated (killed in combat, defeated in contest, killed while asleep, banished);
- LIQUIDATION: Initial misfortune or lack is resolved (object of search distributed, spell broken, slain person revived, captive freed);
- RETURN: Hero returns;
- PURSUIT: Hero is pursued (pursuer tries to kill, eat, undermine the hero);
- RESCUE: Hero is rescued from pursuit (obstacles delay pursuer, hero hides or is hidden, hero transforms unrecognizably, hero saved from attempt on his/her life);
- UNRECOGNIZED ARRIVAL: Hero unrecognized, arrives home or in another country;
- UNFOUNDED CLAIMS: False hero presents unfounded claims;
- DIFFICULT TASK: Difficult task proposed to the hero (trial by ordeal, riddles, test of strength/endurance, other tasks);
- SOLUTION: Task is resolved;
- RECOGNITION: Hero is recognized (by mark, brand, or thing given to him/her);
- EXPOSURE: False hero or villain is exposed;
- TRANSFIGURATION: Hero is given a new appearance (is made whole, handsome, new garments etc.);
- PUNISHMENT: Villain is punished;
- WEDDING: Hero marries and ascends the throne (is rewarded/promoted).
He also concluded that all the characters could be resolved into 8 broad character types in the 100 tales he analyzed:
§ The villain — struggles against the hero.
§ The donor — prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object.
§ The magical helper — helps the hero in the quest.
§ The princess and…
§ her father — gives the task to the hero, identifies the false hero, marries the hero, often sought for during the narrative. Propp noted that functionally, the princess and the father can not be clearly distinguished.
§ The dispatcher — character who makes the lack known and sends the hero off.
§ The hero or victim/seeker hero — reacts to the donor, weds the princess.
§ False hero — takes credit for the hero’s actions or tries to marry the princess.
Got it? Look familiar? Maybe, The Hero’s Journey?
In addition, Propp divided story into 4 segments:
1st Segment: Introduction (setting the scene)
2nd Segment: The Body of the Story (departure on the main quest)
3rd Segment: The Donor Sequence (hero gains a magical object, potential solution is reached)
4th Segment: The Hero’s return (hero returns, complications may arise, resolution)
Ahh, there’s that pesky Four Act Structure again. Gotta love it.
I haven’t finished my analysis of Propp’s work — I fully intend to — but I do believe a better understanding of how fairy tales work and how they are structured can do nothing but make me a better writer. Check it out, use what you like. Throw out what you don’t. But always,
Keep Writing!
