Todorov's and Barthes Theories - Narrative

What is narrative?

A 'narrative' (according to the English Dictionary) is a specialist term referring to the way someone tells a story; whether spoken or written. It involves a sequence of events, characters and the time of which the story is set etc. It is written or verbally told to engage a particular audience into the interest of a
narrative.
     

Tzvetan Todorov (born 1939) is a Bulgarian philosopher, who argued that all narratives start with an 'equilibrium', where any potentially opposing forces are 'in an opening balance' (from 'Section 2 - Narrative' of The Media Students Book). This equilibrium is then disrupted by a status quo, where another event clashes with the other, resulting in an equal balance. 'Equilibrium' labels a state of interesting events, which is brought up in a certain way and not others. How, when and where else any story could have begun, which involves the audience posing questions about the situation. 

Todorov has stated that narrative is structured in 5 stages:

• A state of equilibrium at the outset.
• A disruption of the equilibrium by some form of action.
• A recognition that there has been a disruption.
• An attempt to repair the destruction.
• A reinstatement of the equilibrium.

Roland Barthes (born 1915 - died 1980) was a French philosopher, who suggested that a narrative works with 5 different codes, which together 'activates' the reader and to get them involved with the story. There are 2 internal codes (points inwards into a story) and 3 external codes (points outwards from a story). These are:



Internal:

• The 'enigma' code - Set's up a story and usually solves major puzzles.
• The 'action' code - Makes complex actions 'readable' through small details so we don't have everything revealed straight away.

External:

• The 'semic' code - Involves all of the connotations built up around the actions and the personality of every character in the story.
• The 'symbolic' code - Embodies a small event for a bigger, more abstract event.
• The 'cultural' code - Anchors the historical context of a text and points out of it towards that.

Todorov's and Barthes theory of narrative applied to...
Radiohead - Just

I am going to apply Todorov's and Barthe's theory of narrative to the music video for Radiohead's 'Just'. The reason for this is because the narrative to this story is very unique and seems to work well with the theories of narrative. I have never heard of the song, but the narrative included in the music video is somewhat fascinating because of the obscurity of the storyline of the narrative.

Barthes:

The 'enigma code': This is presented at the start of the music video and is shown throughout. At the start of the music video, we see a man (presuming to be the main character of this video) walking along a quiet street in the middle of a city. He is wearing a suit, possibly suggesting that he is going to work. This is the setting of the narrative of the music video, with the performance part, which features the band Radiohead, is situated in someone's living room in an appartment block. This is identified at the end of the music video when the band members are looking, supposedly looking down at the actor from the window of the appartment. This code is finally apparent at the end because the viewers of the music video can't figure out why the characters are all lying down on the ground, therefore posing questions. 

The 'action code': The same with the 'enigma code', the 'action code' is presented at the start of the video. First of all, right at the start, the actor is seen in the bath getting ready for work, along with the lyrics 'Can't get the stink off, he's been hanging round for days...' (Andrew Goodwin). This is the action for the first part, as the actor is getting clean ready for work. The next part obviously features the actor walking down the street, falling on the ground and just lying down there. The street becomes more busy, with people gathering round him, whislt speaking to him. Here' the action is shown when the actors are communicating to each other, but the audience cannot hear it. The only way the dialogue could be understood is through subtitles, possibly suggesting that we are following the story, through the actor's thoughts rather than hearing the speech itself.

The 'semic code': The main character's personality is shown from his emotion when walking down the street. As shown, it seems that the character is looking worried about something he has seen, as he jsut suddenly stops and lies down on the ground. However, the way he lies down on the ground, he is doing it in a more cynical way, due to the fact that he is not hurt and tries to attract attention from other people in the street. When communicating with the other people on the street, he gate-keeps the fact that he is lying down on the ground, but doesn't want people to know why. This is the 'semic code', although there is only 1 main character in the story.

The 'symbolic' code: This code is most notable at the end of the clip, when all of the people are lying down on the path. The camera shot shows an aerial, high-angle and panning view of rows and rows of people. More interestingly, the characters are all dressed in the same attire (suits and dresses), making this shot more abstract. Not only that, but the way they are all positioned in the shot makes the shot seem a lot more creative and unique. For me, the shot is very similar to the historic 'Bayeux Tapestry', with its panning movement and creative elements.

The 'cultural' code: The code is very well identified through it's use of mise-en-scene. For example, we see it's set in a city and the people are wearing suits, possibly suggesting it is a highly professional place to set the scene. We could suggest that they work for a business and are professionals in their area of speciality. The surrounding buildings look modernised, possibly suggesting that the era of this music video is set in the present day or the 2000's.


Todorov:

The Equilibrium:

First of all, we see the main character imposingly taking a bath ready for work. All is calm in this scene, no disruption was intended.

Then (at 0:31 in the music video) the man is shown walking down an empty street in the middle of a city, in a suit, suggesting that he is going to work. One again, as implied, there is no disruption in the equilibrium at this point.




Disruption of the equilibrium:

The disruption of the equilibrium is shown when the actor falls to the ground unexpectedly for no such reason whatsoever. We have no clue why he has done it and this changes the story of the music video. At 1:07 in the music video, another man is shown walking along the street and is tripped up by the character lying down on the ground. This is the example for what the disruption of the narrative is for 'Just.


The recognition of the equilibrium:

The realisation of the equilibrium is shown when more people appear in the scene. They gather around the character lying down, trying to find out what he is doing and why he is doing it. This is shown through subtitles, but without the dialogue, so we understand the gist of the story. They believe that something is wrong and this ultimately means that they want to find out what it is. This is the recognition shown in the equilibrium.


Repairing the equilibrium:

A police officer then appears in the scene to find out the problem with the guy. Him, and another guy (right) tries to solve the problem by finding the truth to the problem so why he is lying down. He is seen at 3:37 telling everyone his problem. This is then lead on to the conclusion and the equilibrium is back to where it was at the beginning. 


The Reinstatement:

Finally, the equilibrium is back to normal from this last image (above). This is seemed to be restored, as everyone is shown joining the man on the ground. As from the first stage, the calmness if back once again. This is the reinstatement of the music video for 'Just'.