Steve Neale

Steve Neale states that 'genres are instances of repetition and difference' and 'genres are not systems, they are processes of systemisation'.He also say's that, definitions of genre are historically relative and are historically specific. He believed that there was a system of expectation and that by using own knowledge and applying conventions of the genre, the audience should be able to understand the narrative of the genre. He also declares that difference is accentual in genres because repetition is to boring for and audience.

For example, in soaps like Eastenders every couple of weeks new topic occur like, a characters death, a wedding, pregnancy etc.

 

 

Binary oppositions are opposites in a genre, for example, we see this in the crime genre between the crime solvers vs criminals, police vs truth, innocence vs guilt. In this genre, this is used to create conflict and give the audience a chance to take sides to feel more involved in the programme/film.

Todorov

The Narrative Theory:

Todorov in 1969 produced a theory which he believed to be able to be applied to any film. He believed that all films followed the same narrative pattern. They all went through stages called the equilibrium, disequilibrium, acknowledgement, solving and again equilibrium. 

These are the five stages of the Narrative Theory:

A State of equilibrium (everything normal). A disruption of that order by an event. A recognition that the disorder has occurred. An attempt to repair the damage of disruption. A return or restoration of a new equilibrium.