archetype [ar-ki-typ], a *SYMBOL, theme, setting, or character-type that
recurs in different times and places in *MYTH, *LITERATURE, *FOLKLORE,
dreams, and rituals so frequently or prominently as to suggest (to certain
speculative psychologists and critics) that it embodies some essential
element of 'universal' human experience. Examples offered by the
advocates of *MYTH CRITICISM include such recurrent symbols as the
rose, the serpent, and the sun; common themes like love, death, and
conflict; mythical settings like the paradisal garden; * STOCK CHARACTERS
like the femme fatale, the hero, and the magician; and some basic patterns
of action and plot such as the quest, the descent to the underworld, or the
feud. The most fundamental of these patterns is often said to be that of
death and rebirth, reflecting the natural cycle of the seasons: the
Canadian critic Northrop Frye put forward an influential model of
literature based on this proposition in Anatomy of Criticism (1957).
burden, the *REFRAIN or chorus of a song; or the main theme of a song,
poem, or other literary work. A burden is sometimes distinguished from
a refrain in that it starts the song or poem, and stands separate from the
*STANZAS (as in many medieval *CAROLS), whereas a refrain usually
appears as the final part of each stanza.
didactic [dy-dak-tik], instructive; designed to impart information,
advice, or some doctrine of morality or philosophy. Much of the most
ancient surviving literature is didactic, containing genealogies,
proverbial wisdom, and religious instruction. Most European literary
works of the Middle Ages have a strong didactic element, usually
expounding doctrines of the Church. Practical advice has often been
presented in verse, as in the Georgics (37-30 BCE) of Virgil, which give
advice on farming, and in the imitative *GEORGICS of the 18th century.
Since the ascendancy of *ROMANTICISM and *AESTHETICISM in the 19th
century, didactic writing has been viewed unfavourably as foreign to
true art, so that the term didacticism refers (usually pejoratively) to the
use of literary means to a doctrinal end. Some imaginative works still
contain practical information, however: B. S. Johnson's novel Christie
Malry's Own Double Entry (1973) contains precise instructions for the
manufacture of petrol bombs. The boundaries of didactic literature are
open to dispute, since both the presence and the prominence of
doctrinal content are subject to differing interpretations. In the broadest
sense, most * ALLEGORIES and * SATIRES implying a moral or political view
may be regarded as didactic, along with many other kinds of work in
which the *THEME embodies some philosophical or other belief of the
author. A stricter definition would confine the term to those works that
explicitly tell readers what they should do. See also propagandism.
intrigue, an older term for the *PLOT of a play or story, or for its most
complicated portion. In another sense closer to modern usage, the term
may also refer to the secret scheme ('plot' in the other sense, as
conspiracy) that one character or group of characters devises in order to
outwit others. Much European comedy of the 17th century is based on
complex plots about plotters, and is sometimes called the comedy of
intrigue, especially where intricacy of plot overshadows the
development of character or of satiric theme.
leitmotif [lyt-moh-teef] or leitmotiv, a frequently repeated phrase,
image, *SYMBOL, or situation in a literary work, the recurrence of which
usually indicates or supports a *THEME. The term (German, 'leading
motif) comes from music criticism, where it was first used to describe the repeated musical themes or phrases that Wagner linked with particular characters and ideas in his operatic works.
motif [moh-teef ], a situation, incident, idea, image, or character-type
that is found in many different literary works, folktales, or myths; or any
element of a work that is elaborated into a more general *THEME. The
fever that purges away a character's false identity is a recurrent motif in
Victorian fiction; and in European *LYRIC poetry the *UBI SUNT motif and
the *CARPE DIEM motif are commonly found. Where an image, incident,
or other element is repeated significantly within a single work, it is more
commonly referred to as a *LEITMOTIF. See also archetype, stock character,
topos.
novel, nearly always an extended fictional prose * NARRATIVE, although
some novels are very short, some are non-fictional, some have been
written in verse, and some do not even tell a story. Such exceptions help
to indicate that the novel as a literary *GENRE is itself exceptional: it
disregards the constraints that govern other literary forms, and
acknowledges no obligatory structure, style, or subject-matter. Thriving
on this openness and flexibility, the novel has become the most
important literary genre of the modern age, superseding the *EPIC, the
* ROMANCE, and other narrative forms. Novels can be distinguished from
*SHORT STORIES and *NOVELLAS by their greater length, which permits
fuller, subtler development of characters and themes. (Confusingly, it is
a shorter form of tale, the Italian novella, that gives the novel its name in
English.)
The novel has
frequently incorporated the structures and languages of non-fictional
prose forms (history, autobiography, journalism, travel writing), even to
the point where the non-fictional element outweighs the fictional. It is
normally expected of a novel that it should have at least one character,
and preferably several characters shown in processes of change and
social relationship; a *PLOT, or some arrangement of narrated events, is
another normal requirement. Special *SUBGENRES of the novel have
grown up around particular kinds of character (the *K"UNSTLERROMAN, the
spynovel), setting(the *HISTORICAL NOVEL, the *CAMPUS NOVEL), and plot
(the detective novel); while other kinds of novel are distinguished either
by their structure (the *EPISTOLARY NOVEL, the *PICARESQUE NOVEL) or
by special emphases on character (the *BILDUNGSROMAN) or ideas (the
* ROMAN A THESE).
text, the actual wording of a written work, as distinct from a reader's (or
theatrical director's) interpretation of its *STORY, *THEME, *SUBTEXT etc.;
or a specific work chosen as the object of analysis. Adjective: textual.
I have left out countless other definitions, but these should do.
