Module Learning Objectives

After this module you will be able to:

1. Describe storytelling techniques that create meaning in television shows; not what the story is, but HOW the story is told.

2. Use concepts from narrative theories such as dramatic structure (Aristotle), Narratology (Todorov), hermeneutic and action codes (Barthes) to describe how meaning is made

3. Analyze character using the Taxonomy of Character theory explained in lecture (See the slides below for explanation)

Key Concepts

Archetype: Recurrent patterns of actions, character types, or identifiable images whose expression is an unconscious product of the collective experience of the entire human species, an unconscious mental record of such experiences, the collective unconscious. Archetypes depict some eternal quality, some enduring quality of the human race. Examples are the hero, heroine, wise old man, earth mother, temptress, villain, antihero, outcast, scapegoat, initiation, journey, bridge, the fall, fire, light, and water.

Narrative or story: A series of events arranged in an order.

Enigma: A question about the narrative’s development, such as “Who committed the crime?” or “How might a relationship develop?”

Hermeneutic code: Interpretation of a story that includes an enigma, a problem or a disruption of some sort that causes an audience to see how it is resolved; a delay that stalls or postpones the solution to an enigma; and a resolution to the enigma.

Intertextuality: References to other media, characters, and/or events—an allusion to a “text” outside of the present one.

Lack: The disruption of equilibrium or harmony by the lack of something or a desire or wish that goes unfulfilled. Resolution occurs when equilibrium is restored, desire is satisfied, or the wish is fulfilled.

Myth: Fictitious tales, often with primitive or ancient origins, involving supernatural characters embodying timeless virtues and values. Myth offers the young in a society an explanation of why the world is the way it is and why we do as we do. Cosmological myths explain why we are here and where we came from; societal myths teach the proper way to live; identity myths preserve a culture’s distinctiveness and provide a sense of collective identity; eschatological myths tell people where they are going and what lies in store for them in both the short and long run.

Action code: Character action in a narrative that makes complex ideas and feelings recognizable to an audience.

Subtext: When a character’s inner feelings are seen visually but not necessarily spoken about.

Todorov's Narrative Theory

Barthes' Action Code and Hermeneutic Code (Enigmas)

Barthes taught us about key ideas in semiotics that we have learned already: Denotation, Connotation, Myth and Normalization. In his later writings, he developed a way of analyzing texts in a book called S/Z. This method would break the text (TV show) down into five different 'codes'. Two of these codes are discussed in our textbook:

The Action Code - the series of events that constitute the plot.

The Hermeneutic Code - the questions the audience is led to pose as they watch. Part of the pleasure of watching a show is solving the enigmas. The resolution of enigmas is Delayed by using strategies such as misleading the audience.

Here's more about Barthes' codes and how they can be used to interpret visual media.

Additional Readings

Excellent introductory essay by Jason Mittell, describing the common critical vocabulary for HOW narrative is used. This book chapter puts narrative analysis in context and defines many key terms. After that, there's a great analysis of the pilot episode of Veronica Mars.

More complex questions about "Complex Television" (the kind we watch now) in Mittell's pre-publication of his book. This section deals with how evaluation of a text (saying if it's good or if it's bad) can be done

https://mcpress.media-commons.org/complextelevision/evaluation/

Fascinating article summarizing how Narratology theorists have thought of character in this essay from The LIving Handbook of Narratology by Folis Janidis