Thursday, 10 January 2019

Binary Oppositions in 'Spirited Away'

Claude Levi Strauss came up with the theory of binary opposites which you could apply to this film.

In 'The Poetics' Aristotle suggested that all drama is conflict.

To take this further we could say that narratives are driven by conflict between opposites.

Genres can be identified by these opposites such as The Western. At a basic level most Westerns are the struggle between civilisation and wilderness. Cowboys versus Indians.

Identify further oppositions in a chosen genre.

What are the opposites that drive the narrative in Spirited Away ?

Good /  Evil
Young /Old
Spirit world /Real world
Dream/Reality
Grotesque/Beauty/
Greed/Selflessness
Pollution / Health

Here is a very brave teacher explaining the theory in a video.




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