Todorovs Narrative Theory

Todorov was born in 1939 and lives in France. He has wrote many books on literary theory, thought theory and culture theory. 

Todorov suggested that conventional narratives are structured in five stages:

1. a state of equilibrium at the outset;
2. a disruption of the equilibrium by some action;
3. a recognition that there has been a disruption;
4. an attempt to repair the disruption;
5. a reinstatement of the equilibrium
 

This type of narrative structure is very familiar to us and can be applied to many
‘mainstream’ film narratives.