Berry,+Brittne

**Vladimir Propp** April 17, 1895- August 22, 1970 Introduction
 * Vladimir Propp, a Russian formalist and folklorist, who is most famous for //Morphology of the Folktale//, basis his work off of analyzing folk and fairy tales. Propp believed that all folk and fairy tales could be broken down and analyzed by the components of the plot. The components were called functions. He believed that every fairy and folk tale contained all thirty-one of these functions, and hat is what entitled them to be called a fairy or folk tale.His contributions to the folk/fairy tale world has been respected for many years. **

Who Is Vladimir Propp?
 * Vladimir Iakovlevich Propp was born in April of 1985 in St. Petersburg. Later in life, he attended St. Petersburg University from 1913 until 1918. He majored in German and Russian philosophy. After graduation, he became a secondary school teacher. He taught Russian and German, and later on he taught German at the college level.**
 * After teaching, he turned his focus onto folklore. He was the leader of the Folklore Department of Leningrad State University (formerly known as St. Petersburg University). After years of analyzing folk/fairy tales, Propp died in 1970.**

What's He Good For? **It is possible for one of the functions to be repeated two or three more times within the tale. Propp also believed that there were 8 different character types throughout a tale. These characters include:**
 * Propp contributed a lot of work to narrative structure. With a Russian Formalist approach, Propp analyzed many different Russian fairy/folk tales. Propp was very interested in the components of a folk/ fairy tale. He believed that there were thirty-one functions that a folk/fairy tale had to contain to be considered a folk/fairy tale. These functions, which contribute mostly to a folktale, are as followed: **
 * 1) A member of a family leaves home (the hero is introduced);
 * 2) An interdiction is addressed to the hero (‘don’t go there’, ‘go to this place’);
 * 3) The interdiction is violated (villain enters the tale);
 * 4) The villain makes an attempt at reconnaissance (either villain tries to find the children/jewels etc; or intended victim questions the villain);
 * 5) The villain gains information about the victim;
 * 6) The villain attempts to deceive the victim to take possession of victim or victim’s belongings (trickery; villain disguised, tries to win confidence of victim);
 * 7) Victim taken in by deception, unwittingly helping the enemy;
 * 8) Villain causes harm/injury to family member (by abduction, theft of magical agent, spoiling crops, plunders in other forms, causes a disappearance, expels someone, casts spell on someone, substitutes child etc, commits murder, imprisons/detains someone, threatens forced marriage, provides nightly torments); Alternatively, a member of family lacks something or desires something (magical potion etc);
 * 9) Misfortune or lack is made known, (hero is dispatched, hears call for help etc/ alternative is that victimized hero is sent away, freed from imprisonment);
 * 10) Seeker agrees to, or decides upon counter-action;
 * 11) Hero leaves home;
 * 12) Hero is tested, interrogated, attacked etc, preparing the way for his/her receiving magical agent or helper (donor);
 * 13) Hero reacts to actions of future donor (withstands/fails the test, frees captive, reconciles disputants, performs service, uses adversary’s powers against them);
 * 14) Hero acquires use of a magical agent (directly transferred, located, purchased, prepared, spontaneously appears, eaten/drunk, help offered by other characters);
 * 15) Hero is transferred, delivered or led to whereabouts of an object of the search;
 * 16) Hero and villain join in direct combat;
 * 17) Hero is branded (wounded/marked, receives ring or scarf);
 * 18) Villain is defeated (killed in combat, defeated in contest, killed while asleep, banished);
 * 19) Initial misfortune or lack is resolved (object of search distributed, spell broken, slain person revived, captive freed);
 * 20) Hero returns;
 * 21) Hero is pursued (pursuer tries to kill, eat, undermine the hero);
 * 22) Hero is rescued from pursuit (obstacles delay pursuer, hero hides or is hidden, hero transforms unrecognizably, hero saved from attempt on his/her life);
 * 23) Hero unrecognized, arrives home or in another country;
 * 24) False hero presents unfounded claims;
 * 25) Difficult task proposed to the hero (trial by ordeal, riddles, test of strength/endurance, other tasks);
 * 26) Task is resolved;
 * 27) Hero is recognized (by mark, brand, or thing given to him/her);
 * 28) False hero or villain is exposed;
 * 29) Hero is given a new appearance (is made whole, handsome, new garments etc);
 * 30) Villain is punished;
 * 31) Hero marries and ascends the throne (is rewarded/promoted).

1. The villain — struggles against the hero. 2. The dispatcher —character who makes the lack known and sends the hero off. 3. The (magical) helper — helps the hero in the quest. 4. The princess or prize — the hero deserves her throughout the story but is unable to marry her because of an unfair evil, usually because of the villain. the hero's journey is often ended when he marries the princess, thereby beating the villain. 5. her father — gives the task to the hero, identifies the false hero, marries the hero, often sought for during the narrative. 6. The donor —prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object. 7. The hero or victim/seeker hero — reacts to the donor, weds the princess. 8. False hero — takes credit for the hero’s actions or tries to marry the princess. **It is possible for a character to have two roles.**

Morphology of the Folktale

**'The study of the fairy tale may be compared in many respects to that of organic formation in nature. Both the naturalist and the folklorist deal with species and varieties which are essentially the same.'**

**The //Morphology of the folktale//, Propp's most important work, was completed in 1928, but it took over thirty years for it to be introduced to American scholars. The book was made mainly for fairy tales, not folktales. Although, the language contained in the book is simple, the ideas introduced could get complex at times. This piece looks more in depth into the components of a fairytale. After agreeing upon the components of a fairytale, it compares the components in different fairy tales**.
 * Vladimir Propp //Morphology of the Folktale//**

Criticism of Propp Claude Levi-Strauss


 * Claude Levi-Strauss, a strucutralist, is one of Propp’s biggest critics. Strauss believed that the Structuralist approach was much better than the Formalist approach. However, many believe that Strauss got the wrong idea about Propp’s work. Propp was trying to identify the elements that help build a fairy tale. It was believed by Strauss that Propp was trying to degrade the strucutralist approach. Strauss used Propp's monograph on the** //M**orphology of the Folktale**// **to show why the Structuralist approach was much better than the Formalist approach.** **Many argue that Propp “removed all verbal considerations from the analysis".**

References: [] [] [] [] http://www.isfp.co.uk/russian_thinkers/vladimir_propp.html