Theme (literature)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For a topical guide to this subject, see Outline of fiction.
A theme is a broad idea, message, or lesson that is coneyed by a work. The message is about life, society, or human nature. Themes often explore timeless and universal ideas and may be implied rather than explicitly stated. Along with plot, character, setting, and style, theme is considered one of the fundamental components of fiction.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Etymology
The word 'theme' comes from the Old French word thesme (French: thème), from [Latin] thema, from Ancient Greek θέμα (théma), from τίθημι (tithemi), meaning “‘I put, place’”, which in turn is reduplicative from the Proto-Indo-European word *dʰeh₁-, meaning ‘to put, place, do’.
[edit] Classic themes
Themes differ from culture to culture, but some "classic themes" appear in many cultures. These themes have their roots in the oral traditions, including mythology.
[edit] Techniques
There are several literary techniques that are often used to express themes.
[edit] Leitwortstil
Leitwortstil is the 'the purposeful repetition of words' in a given literary piece that "usually expresses a motif or theme important to the given story". This device dates back to the One Thousand and One Nights, also known as the Arabian Nights, which connects several tales together in a story cycle. The storytellers of the tales relied on this technique "to shape the constituent members of their story cycles into a coherent whole."[2]
[edit] Thematic patterning
Thematic patterning is "the distribution of recurrent thematic concepts and moralistic motifs among the various incidents and frames of a story. Thematic patterning may be arranged so as to emphasize the unifying argument or salient idea which disparate events and disparate frames have in common". This technique also dates back to the One Thousand and One Nights.[3]
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Obstfeld, 2002, p. 1, 65, 115, 171.
- ^ Heath, Peter (May 1994), "Reviewed work(s) Story-Telling Techniques in the Arabian Nights by David Pinault", International Journal of Middle East Studies (Cambridge University Press) 26 (2): 358-360 [359-60]
- ^ Heath, Peter (May 1994), "Reviewed work(s): Story-Telling Techniques in the Arabian Nights by David Pinault", International Journal of Middle East Studies (Cambridge University Press) 26 (2): 358-360 [360]
[edit] References
- Obstfeld, Raymond (2002). Fiction First Aid: Instant Remedies for Novels, Stories and Scripts. Cincinnati, OH: Writer's Digest Books. ISBN 158297117x.
 |
This literature-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
