Todorov
Tzvetan Todorov is a Bulgarian historian, philosopher and structuralist. He theorised that there were five stages to a narrative, among which were the following:
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1= A state of peace/equilibrium.
2= A disruption of this equilibrium by an event/individual.
3= A realisation that a disruption has happened.
4= An attempt to repair the damage of the disruption.
5= A restoration of equilibrium - which may equate to a new state of equilibrium under different circumstances.
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Todorov states that this structure can be applied to both fictional and non-fictional texts. Adverts and news stories often follow this structure. News Stories tend to use this idea especially to exaggerate the point of how an equilibrium has been disturbed. Adverts often use this structure to show a problem arising and to show how their product is the solution to the issue.
Barthes
Rolando Barthes is a French literary theorist and philosopher that gave us the narrative concept of negotiated meaning between both institution and audience. He stated that the reader produces their own unique meanings when reading a text, as a film audience also does. Barthes said that the audience makes use of their own previous experience. So, for example, when watching a soap program based in a restaurant, the audience's personal meaning depends equally as much on their own experience as they do on what is being portrayed by the program. The cultural context of consumption becomes as important as the context of the actual content of the program according to Barthes.
Another one of his best known codes is the Enigma Code. This is basically where the audience is left with an unresolved mystery or plot hole that is intended to keep the audience coming back week after week. This isn't as important for my group and I as it relates more to television theory but it's still a good point to acknowledge.