In this paper, I attempt to find a middle ground between the formalist critic, Vladimir Propp, and the psychoanalytic critic, Carl Jung. I argue that, instead of regarding Russian formalism and psychoanalysis as irreconcilable adversaries, the theories of the two figures can (and should) be unified; the result of which can be devised to establish a theory of what I call an ‘‘archetypal narrative’’. To be more explicit, Propp’s Morphology and Jung’s archetypal psychoanalysis are reconciled to bring about (...) an archetypal narrative theory, in which the underlying structure of narratives lies in the collective unconscious of humanity. (shrink)

This article takes Propp’s work on Russian fairy tales as point of departure for a general theory of character. It is widely held that oral narratives lack complexity in characterization; but it is argued that all narratives can imply psychological traits. It is the case that Propp’s analysis is primarily in terms of ‘functions’-- generalized constant actions performed by various personages. However, one aspect of his study is devoted to how functions are distributed among the dramatis personae into (...) ‘spheres of action’. Seven are recognized, including hero, villain, helper, among others. These are comparable to roles in semantic (case) analysis of sentence structure, such as agent, patient, etc. Propp’s analysis is marred by a number of inconsistencies, with the consequence that his narrative roles are in need of extensive revision. Greimas has complained that Propp presented the roles as a simple inventory, stopping short of a systematic inquiry into relations among them. He offers his alternative ‘actantial model’. However, his model is inadequate in that it fails to recognize that two separate systems of narrative roles need to be recognized, one that holds for ‘dramatic’ narrative structure, the other for ‘instrumental’ narrative structure. (shrink)

The structure of narrative discourse is the focus of much current research, but the classicist Walter Burkert argues for a revitalization of the historical approach to myth. He pushes the origins of myth beyond ritual to action patterns man shares with animals. His approach is evaluated in the context of Propp's historical analysis, which complements his 'morphological' approach to Russian folktales; and to Levi-Strauss's synchronic analysis of myth, which sees an ahistoric connection between the myths of North and South (...) America. (shrink)

This article offers a historical perspective on the emergence of narrative as a major area of research, with a sampling of the range of possible approaches. Key early figures, including Propp, Levi-Strauss, the French structuralists (Greimas in particular), and the linguist Labov are discussed. It aims to provide a framework in which some key concepts can be examined, in particular the term narrativity, which regards narrative as a semiotic structure that transcends the verbal domain. The work of Metz in (...) cinema is discussed. Another area is painting; it is noted that the conjunction of the notion of narrative with painting has a long history. (shrink)

The purpose of this essay is to point out the diversity in post-Proppian plot analysis—and, more specifically, to argue that within it one can discern two fundamentally different conceptions of narrative structure. These are not merely different theoretical grids superimposed upon the same phenomena, but represent, in fact, two objectively different types of narrative structure. These two types will be referred to as dramatic structure and instrumental structure, and they may be succinctly characterized by the antonyms 'play' and 'work' respectively. (...) It will be argued that there is a basis in Propp for both conceptions of narrative structure and that Bremond and Greimas, in their efforts to 'generalize' Propp, have each only isolated one of two tendencies coexisting in his analytic approach. Our point of departure will be Propp's concept of the basic unit of plot structure, which he terms the function. This is a complex term. Two senses are distinguished, biological and mathematical-logical. (shrink)

In this paper, a formal theory is presented that describes syntactic and semantic mechanisms of philosophical discourses. They are treated as peculiar language systems possessing deep derivational structures called architectonic forms of philosophical systems, encoded in philosophical mind. Architectonic forms are constituents of more complex structures called architectonic spaces of philosophy. They are understood as formal and algorithmic representations of various philosophical traditions. The formal derivational machinery of a given space determines its class of all possible architectonic forms. Some of (...) them stand under factual historical philosophical systems and they organize processes of doing philosophy within these systems. Many architectonic forms have never been realized in the history of philosophy. The presented theory may be interpreted as falling under Hegel’s paradigm of comprehending cultural texts. This paradigm is enriched and inspired with Propp’s formal, morphological view on texts. The peculiarity of this modification of the Hegel-Propp paradigm consists of the use of algebraic and algorithmic tools of modeling processes of cultural development. To speak metaphorically, the theory is an attempt at the mathematical and logical history of philosophy inspired by the Internet metaphor. And that is why it belongs to the tradition of doing metaphilosophy in The Lvov-Warsaw School, which is continued today mainly by Woleński, Pelc, Perzanowski, and Jadacki. (shrink)

This article offers a historical perspective on the emergence of narrative as a major area of research, with a sampling of the range of possible approaches. Key early figures, including Propp, Levi-Strauss, the French structuralists (Greimas in particular), and the linguist Labov are discussed. It aims to provide a framework in which some key concepts can be examined, in particular the term narrativity, which regards narrative as a semiotic structure that transcends the verbal domain. The work of Metz in (...) cinema is discussed. Another area is painting; it is noted that the conjunction of the notion of narrative with painting has a long history. (shrink)