Narrative in media language: Todorov's equilibrium model, Propp's character functions, Levi-Strauss and binary oppositions, and how narrative structure is built across media forms.

What this dot point is asking

AQA wants you to analyse how media products organise events into a narrative and how that structure builds meaning. You should apply Todorov, Propp and Levi-Strauss precisely and link them to specific products rather than retelling the plot. Narrative is part of the media language framework, so the marks are for analysis of structure and meaning.

Todorov and the equilibrium model

Tzvetan Todorov argued that narratives follow a pattern of equilibrium, disruption and new equilibrium. A stable situation is broken by a disruption; characters recognise the disruption, attempt to repair it, and the story settles into a transformed equilibrium. The crucial analytical point is that the new equilibrium is not a return to the start but a changed state, and the difference between the opening and closing equilibrium often carries the product's meaning and ideology (which values have been restored, who has gained, what has been learned).

Propp and character functions

Vladimir Propp studied Russian folk tales and argued that characters exist to perform functions that move the narrative forward. Common functions include the hero, the villain, the donor (who gives the hero something), the helper, the princess (or prize) and the dispatcher (who sends the hero on the quest). The point is analytical: a character is defined by what they do for the story, so the same role can appear across very different products, and one character can carry more than one function. Modern products frequently subvert Propp, for example by making the villain sympathetic or the hero morally compromised, and naming that subversion is strong analysis.

Levi-Strauss and binary oppositions

Claude Levi-Strauss argued that meaning is created through binary oppositions, pairs of opposing ideas such as good and evil, nature and culture, order and chaos, or individual and society. For Levi-Strauss, the conflict between opposites is what generates meaning, and the side a product favours reveals its underlying values and ideology. A crime drama built on the opposition of law against criminality usually resolves in favour of law, encoding a conservative, order-affirming ideology.

Applying narrative across forms

Narrative is not only for fiction film. A newspaper front page builds a narrative of disruption and threat to position the reader; an advert moves from a problem to a resolution offered by the product; a music video can use fragmented or non-linear narrative, or refuse narrative resolution altogether. Strong answers name the form and show how its narrative choices position the audience, rather than assuming every product fits a neat three-stage shape.