Research Task 6: Vladimir Propp

Vladimir Propp 

Vladimir Propp (17th April 1895-22nd August 1970), a man who was known for investigating the basic plot components of Russian folk tales to break down and simplify a vast narrative to their smallest narratemes.  

Propp invented tales consisting sequences that has 31 functions. In the end, he came up with a conclusion that  within the 100 tales that he has analysed, all the characters can be 'resolved' into '8 broad character types.' These are: 

• The villain - the rival of the hero
• The donor - who gives the magic, special weapon or the strength to the hero in order for him to succeed in his journey/quest.
• The (magic) helper - gives a helping hand to the hero
• The princess or prize - The main aim of the hero in most fairytales. The reason why there is rivalries between the other especially male characters i.e. the hero vs. the villain 
• Her father - chooses the brave, strong man for his princess, interrogate whoever attempts to marry her daughter, the one who challenge or set a quest to see a hero's strength
• The dispatcher - character who gives false information to the hero
• The hero - the strong, brave and good character, marries the princess
• False Hero - the pretender, character who tries to fake his identity so that she can marry the princess

These are the common characters in fairytales. This can be followed by a dragon who first is an enemy and becomes a friend of the hero and also a saviour. Alternatively, one character can have more than one role in a fairytale.