Narrative Theory- Vladimir Propp's Theory of Narrative

This theory was brought about from the work of Russian Formalists from the 1920s.  Vladimir Propp came up with the thought that characters were able to adopt the role of "spheres of action". After an intenese nalysation of folk-tales Propp came up with seven different character types:

• The Hero, often male, restores the narrative equilateral often by embarking upon an quest.  
• The Villain, usually creates the narrative disruption.
• The Donor, is able to provide the hero with something that resolves the narrative
• The Helper, aids the hero in the task of restoring equilibrium. 
• The Princess, usually character most threatened by the villain and has to be saved.
• The Dispatcher, sends the hero on their required tasks
• The False Hero, is made to seem good but is revealed at the narratives end to be bad.

In class we worked in groups and had to come up with a film and put characters into each type. In my group we discussed Rush Hour and below is all characters in each type.

Rush Hour (1998)

• The Hero- Detective Inspector Lee (Jackie Chan)
• The Villain- Sang (Ken Leung)
• The Donor- Johnson (Elizabeth Pena)
• The Helper- Detective James Carter (Chris Tucker) 
• The Princess- Soo Yung (Julia Hsu)
• The Dispatcher- Consol Han (Tzi Ma)
• The False Hero- Juntao (Tom Wilkinson)