Plot Patterns in Manga Based on Propp’s narratological elements

Bogdan Groza; Adrian Momanu

doi:10.21900/j.jams.v3.945

Authors

Bogdan Groza University of Siena, PhD
Adrian Momanu University of Padua

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21900/j.jams.v3.945

Keywords:

Compared analysis, Formalism, Manga, Narrative arcs, Narratological elements, Vladimir Propp

Abstract

This article takes into consideration Vladimir Propp’s work on narratological elements and applies them to the narrative strategies of manga. Through a generalization of Propp’s scheme, an in-depth explanation of how they interact with one another and the addition of several new functions, this work demonstrates that these categories are functional in the study of the narratological elements found in manga. For the purpose of this article, most of the provided examples derive from shōnen manga as they provide for a clearer analysis. The secondary aim is to emphasize that there is room for critical analysis in manga, one that is directly correlated with literature. This medium that combines literature and art, other than having its own history, has evolved along the decades and adapted to the requirements of its generation; it is hence important to acknowledge and value a possible analytical approach.

Author Biographies

Bogdan Groza, University of Siena, PhD

Bogdan Groza finished his Master’s Degree programme in European, American and Postcolonial Language and Literature at the faculty of Padua with a thesis entitled “Knighthood and anti-heroic behaviour in the figures of Falstaff and Don Quixote”. He is currently doing a PhD project at the faculty of Siena on the subject of the Anthropocene in science fiction literature; the main writers he is working on are Philip K. Dick, Frank Herbert and Ayn Rand.
Adrian Momanu, University of Padua

Adrian Momanu majored in Linguistic and Cultural Mediation at the University of Padua in English and Russian; he is majoring in Modern Languages for International Communication and Cooperation at the same university.

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