Dissertation - World Federation of Music Therapy

daily life myths and fairy tales may functions as a narrative matrix, a structural system
of references to universal or archetypal experiential patterns of conflicts and conflict
resolutions. Other characters of the story than those mentioned in Propp’s model may
include a confidant(e), a messenger, a mouthpiece and other personifications of basic
narrative functions. The story may have several plot points, including peaks, abysses,
and pivotal situations. The ending may be happy (the fairy tale type) or tragical (the
myth type). A simpler plot model is based on the Executioner Victim
relationship.
The telling of a story and the unfolding of a plot needs energy, and the energy unfolds
in archs of psychological tension and release, raised by the narrator and experienced
by the reader or listener. A well-known model of narrative tension building over time
is the ”Narrator’s model” (Larsen 2003, p. 108f). According to this model an effective
narrative has seven discrete phases: Attack – Presentation – Elaboration – The Point
of no Return (PoNR) – Conflict building – Climax – Release. The graphic
representation of the model is an intensity curve or profile, as shown in fig.3.3.
Figure 3. 3 Narrator’s model – Intensity profile
Tension/
Intensity
1.Attack 2. Presentation 3.Elaboration 4.PoNR 5. Conflict building 6. Climax 7.Closure
PoNR= Point of No Return
Fig. 3.3 illustrates the plot structure in seven sections, on which the narrator’s model
is built. Each section has its specific feature and function.
Time
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