Beyond Propp and Oedipus: Towards expanding narrative theory

Abstract

Aspects of theory surrounding both narrative and reception of film is examined and interrogated. The structural analysis offered by Propp, among other theorists, and insights of psychoanalysis are considered to rework the Oedipal scenario. This paper draws on ideas around transgression and refers to aspects of Oedipus’s life which are largely ignored as the focus of psychic scenario. The narratives of two films. On the Wire and Mississippi Masala are examined in relation to contradictions surrounding their reception.