In media terms, narrative is the coherence given to a series of facts. The human mind needs narrative to make sense of things, we connect events and make interpretations based on those connections. In everything we seek a beginning, a middle and an end.
These are Todorov’s expected stages of a narrative.
The theory is simple; there are five stages the narrative can progress through:
- A stage of equilibrium (everything is peaceful and how it should be)
- A disruption of that order by an event.
- a recognition that the disorder has occurred.
- An attempt to repair the damage that the disruption has caused.
- A return or restoration of a new equilibrium
Todorov argues that narrative involves a transformation. The characters or the situations are transformed through the progress of the disruption.
