The (Narrative) Structure of Scientific Revolutions?
Revision is over and I can write this in my light and airy room at home, rather than in that dark, airless box in which I’ve spent a large proportion of the last two weeks. Exam revision is great for linking ideas which initially appear to be separate and discrete. One link which occurred to me was between narrative theory and Thomas Kuhn’s ‘ Structure of Scientific Revolutions ’. Narrative scholars, such as Vladimir Propp and Tzvetan Todorov have tried to determine what the general structure of a narrative is. While Propp’s structure is really weighty, and a bit vague (it seems his ‘ spheres of action ’ can apply to anything), Todorov argued that all narratives fit within a basic, five-step frame – much more sensible. All narratives start with an initial equilibrium. Early on, there is a disruption from this equilibrium, the characters notice this disruption. There is then an attempt to put the disruption right, before a final equilibrium is reached. It st...