Argax Project:: Dissertation: A Rough Draft Node

Vladimir Propp authored Morphology of the Folktale in 1927, although it was thirty years until it was translated into English (Propp 1968). In it, Propp explores how to classify folktales. Most previous attempts at classification were based on the contents of tales--such as a tale's general category (fantastic, everyday life, or animal tale), a tale's themes, or a tale's motifs (such as the presence of a dragon, witch, or magic ring). Instead of content, Propp looked at each tale's structure--specifically, the effects of the actions of the characters and agents.

Rather than classify these depending on whether they include magical items, or a tsar, or whether the hero is an animal, Propp recognized the function present in them all: a "donor" is providing the hero with a special item, which is then followed by the spatial transference of the hero to a new land.

As Propp defines it, a function "is understood as an act of a character, defined from the point of view of its significance for the course of the action" (Propp 1968, p21). These functions "constitute the fundamental components of a tale", and they are "independent of how or by whom they are fulfilled" (Propp 1968, p.21). That is, while the specific details provide the color unique to each tale, the underlying structures are constant. Furthermore, the number of known functions is limited; and, though not all functions are present in all tales, those functions that do appear always occur in the same sequence (Propp 1968).

A function can be seen as a genus, with a number of specific events (and even variation on those events) serving as an example of that function. Indeed, Propp provides a number of example "species" events for each "genus" function. However, the same events can fill different functions depending on their place in the story. For instance, a man may marry a widow with two children, thereby setting up the action of the story. Or the hero may receive the hand of the princess, thereby achieving his reward and ending the story. Here, the event of marriage is filling different functions at the beginning and the end of the tale.

Propp studied one hundred Russian folktales from the Aarne-Thompson index, and discovered 31 functions and a handful of other morphological features, such as character roles. As illustration, here are some of the more prevalent functions:

Symbol	Function	Description
α	Initial Situation	Introduction to hero by name or status, enumeration of family members, etc. (Though this a morphological element, it is not considered a function.)
β	Absentation	A member of the family leaves home.
γ	Interdiction	The hero is forbidden to do something.
δ	Violation	The hero violates the interdiction.
ε	Reconnaissance	The villain attempts to gain information
ζ	Delivery	The villain succeeds in learning something about his victim
A	Villainy	The villain causes harm, injury, or misfortune to a family member. (This serves as the complication, ending the "prepatory part" and beginning the actual movement of the tale.)
a	Lack	The hero or a family member lacks something. (Serves as an alternative to A.)
B	Mediation	The hero is made aware of the misfortune or lack. (Distinguishes between seeker/voluntary heroes and victimized/involuntary heroes.)
C	Counteraction	A seeking hero agrees to go.
↑	Departure	The hero leaves home.
D	First Function of the Donor	The hero encounters a donor (who greets or otherwise tests the hero).
E	Hero's Reaction	The hero reacts to the donor.
F	Provision or Receipt of Magical Agent	The hero receives some item, animal, or other assistance from the donor.
G	Spatial Transference	The hero is guided or transferred in the direction of the object of his search.
H	Struggle	The hero and villain engage in combat or competition.
I	Victory	The villain is defeated.
K	Liquidation of Misfortune or Lack	The initial villainy is undone, or the initial lack is fulfilled. This function is paired with A or a and forms the peak of the narrative.
↓	Return	The hero returns home.
W	Wedding	The hero marries, ascends the throne, or receives some other reward.

An example subset of Propp's functions

Propp comments that the functions all "belong to a single axis" (1968, p64); that is, they follow each other sequentially in a tale. Furthermore, "one function develops out of another with logical and artistic necessity" (Propp 1968, p64). A number of the functions come in pairs. For instance, an Interdiction (γ) is always Violated (δ). As mentioned, the details of a Liquidation (K) depend on the nature of the initial Villainy (A) or Lack (a). Other logical groupings are noticeable, such as the complication (ABC↑) and the interaction with the donor (DEF).

Propp explains other variations within functions. For instance, sometimes they have a negative form, such as a command rather than an interdiction (γ), which must then be fulfilled rather than violated. Or the hero may react negatively (E) to the donor's request (D). Trebling of a function or sequence is common--the hero meeting three donors before receiving the agent, or three heroes meeting a donor before the last hero is successful.

As it provides specific classes of events that linearly comprise a well-formed tale, Propp has long been a inspiration for automatic story generation and interactive narrative systems. However, Propp's model applies to a small set of simple tales--Russian folktales. His functions do not always apply cleanly to fairy tales from other cultures. It is certainly not a universal model of narrative structure. The hope is that similar rules of structure will be found for other genres of tales. However, despite the work of other structuralists, such Tzvetan Todorov's analysis of the Decameron stories (Chatman 1978), Propp remains the most widely cited model in interactive narrative work to date.

Argax Project

Propp and Story Morphology

Works Cited

ToDo