Analysis of the hero concept in "Batman The Dark Knight" films according to Propp's structural analysis method

Since the mid-20th century, with the emergence of narrative as a scientific discipline, the studies related to this concept have become more systematic and gained an interdisciplinary nature. In its early stages, the study of narratives was referred to as "classical narratology", and it adopted the structuralist approach pioneered by Ferdinand de Saussure. By the 1960s, the structuralist approach, which was part of the transformation of language within the social sciences, had been used by many disciplines beyond linguistics, especially from the late 1970s onward.When we turn to cinema, the concept and theories of classical narrative have played a significant role in narrative studies in this field. These studies, starting from the grammar of film, have facilitated the emergence of cinematic narrative. This study aims to explore the structural narrative analysis method introduced by the linguist Vladimir Propp in his work Morphology of the Folktale and apply it to a trilogy of adaptation films based on a comic book. Propp's method is regarded as an effective tool not only in analyzing traditional folktales but also in the analysis of modern cinematic works.The study aims to conduct a morphological analysis of three films based on comic books: Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and The Dark Knight Rises. Propp's structural analysis technique, consisting of 31 functions and 7 action spheres, will be used to uncover the themes of heroism and plot structures in these films. However, the research findings encounter an issue with the sequencing of functions and actions, especially in The Dark Knight, where the order deviates from the expected. This suggests that Propp's method does not entirely account for the structural consistency and narrative coherence within the film.In this context, the study aims to demonstrate how Vladimir Propp's structural narrative analysis method is applied to the examples of the Batman films, which are adaptations from comic books, and to assess the relevance and limitations of this method in cinematic analysis. This provides an important perspective for understanding how contemporary films adapt and alter classical narrative structures.