Vladimir Propp

An idea intitally put to one side, has come back around and made itself relevant. One of my first ideas was to use the devised structure of a fairytale by Vladimir Propp, to use as my own structure for the narrative. I put this idea to one side thinking it was to complicated and due to the fact that most of Propps theories seem to not work in the real world, or at the very least seem to have small flaws within them, that make the whole idea unusable. But recently I seemed to have got drawn back to them.

Vladimir Propps observations on Fairytales:

1.	Functions of characters serve as stable, constant elements in a tale, independently of how and by whom they are fulfilled. They constitute the fundamental components of a tale.
2.	The numbers of functions to the fairy tale is limited. Freedom with this sequence is restricted by very narrow limits which can be exactly formulated.
3.	The sequences of functions is always identical. Since we are studying tales according to the functions of their dramatis personae, the accumulation of material can be suspended as soon as it becomes apparent that the new tales considered present no new functions.
4.	All fairy tales are one type in regard to their structures.

You can see from this the obvious link between Propps theories and what I am trying to do. To create a database of paragraphs that go with each other, or in better terms have paragraphs of a fairytale that match up with the linear structures of other tales. Using Propps ideas, or functions you can split the narrative into 31 sections. Each section corresponds with the same section in a different fairytale.

Another idea I was thinking of using was his Dramatis personae (Seven roles which any character might assume in the story)

1. The Villain: Who struggles with the hero;
2. The Donor: who prepares and/or provides hero with magical agent;
3. The Helper: who assists, rescues, solves and/or transfigured the hero;
4. The Princess: a sought-for person (and/or her father) who exists as goal and often recognizes and marries hero and/or punishes villain;
5. The Dispatcher: who sends the hero off;
6. The Hero: who departs on a search (seeker-hero), reacts to the donor and weds at end;
7. The false Hero: who claims to be the hero, often seeking and reacting like A real hero.

My idea was use these seven roles and split the narrative accordingly. So there would be seven sections for each narrative strand, the interaction would come by choosing a certain character. I have been put off this idea as I don't believe that a generated narrative of this nature will give me the complete narrative that I am looking to produce, I like to feel closure in narratives I don't think this will give me that.

However, like I mentioned I seem to be coming back to ideas by accident almost, so it seems relevant to read through his theories and find out more why they don't quite seem to work. Found this site which generates narrative structures using Propps theories. In some of the cases they work, in others they don't. I think by looking at his theories and the pitfalls within them I can learn more about why my own ideas can't and won't work in a grander scheme.

Have started to read Morphology of the folktale by Propp to further my understanding.