Event in a literary text. Plot and non-plot narration. Features of plot construction: plot components (plot, course of action, climax, denouement - if any), sequence of main components. The relationship between plot and plot. Plot motives. System of motives. Types of plots.
Difference between " plot" And " plot“is defined differently, some literary scholars do not see a fundamental difference between these concepts, while for others, “plot” is the sequence of events as they occur, and “plot” is the sequence in which the author arranges them.
Fable– the factual side of the story, those events, incidents, actions, states in their causal and chronological sequence. The term “plot” refers to what is preserved as the “base”, “core” of the narrative.
Plot- this is a reflection of the dynamics of reality in the form of the action unfolding in the work, in the form of internally related (causal-temporal) actions of characters, events that form a unity, constituting some complete whole. The plot is a form of theme development - an artistically constructed distribution of events.
The driving force behind the development of the plot, as a rule, is conflict(literally “clash”), a conflicting life situation placed by the writer at the center of the work. In a broad sense conflict should be called that system of contradictions that organizes a work of art into a certain unity, that struggle of images, characters, ideas, which unfolds especially widely and fully in epic and dramatic works
Conflict- a more or less acute contradiction or clash between characters and their characters, or between characters and circumstances, or within the character and consciousness of a character or lyrical subject; it is the central moment not only of epic and dramatic action, but also of lyrical experience.
There are different types of conflicts: between individual characters; between character and environment; psychological. The conflict can be external (the hero’s struggle with forces opposing him) and internal (the hero’s struggle with himself in the mind). There are plots based only on internal conflicts (“psychological”, “intellectual”), the basis of the action in them is not events, but the vicissitudes of feelings, thoughts, experiences. One work can contain a combination of different types of conflicts. Sharply expressed contradictions, the opposition of forces acting in a product, are called collision.
Composition (architectonics) is the construction literary work, composition and sequence of arrangement of its individual parts and elements (prologue, exposition, plot, development of action, climax, denouement, epilogue).
Prologue- the introductory part of a literary work. The prologue reports the events that precede and motivate the main action, or explains the author's artistic intent.
Exposition- part of the work that precedes the beginning of the plot and is directly related to it. The exposition follows the arrangement of characters and circumstances, showing the reasons that “trigger” the plot conflict.
The beginning in the plot - the event that served as the beginning of the conflict in a work of art; an episode that determines the entire subsequent development of the action (in “The Inspector General” by N.V. Gogol, for example, the plot is the mayor’s message about the arrival of the inspector). The plot is present at the beginning of the work, indicating the beginning of the development of artistic action. As a rule, it immediately introduces the main conflict of the work, subsequently determining the entire narrative and plot. Sometimes the plot comes before the exposition (for example, the plot of the novel “Anna Karenina” by L. Tolstoy: “Everything was mixed up in the Oblonskys’ house”). The writer’s choice of one type of plot or another is determined by the style and genre system in terms of which he designs his work.
Climax– the point of highest rise, tension in the development of the plot (conflict).
Denouement– conflict resolution; it completes the struggle of contradictions that make up the content of the work. The denouement marks the victory of one side over the other. The effectiveness of the denouement is determined by the significance of the entire preceding struggle and the climactic severity of the episode preceding the denouement.
Epilogue- the final part of the work, which briefly reports on the fate of the heroes after the events depicted in it, and sometimes discusses the moral and philosophical aspects of what is depicted (“Crime and Punishment” by F.M. Dostoevsky).
The composition of a literary work includes extra-plot elements– author's digressions, inserted episodes, various descriptions(portrait, landscape, world of things), etc., serving to create artistic images, the disclosure of which, in fact, is the entire work.
So, for example, episode as a relatively completed and independent part of the work, which depicts a completed event or an important moment in the fate of the character, can become an integral link in the problems of the work or an important part of its general idea.
Scenery V work of art- this is not just a picture of nature, a description of part of the real environment in which the action takes place. The role of landscape in a work is not limited to depicting the scene of action. It serves to create a certain mood; is a way of expressing author's position(for example, in the story by I.S. Turgenev “Date”). The landscape can emphasize or convey the mental state of the characters, while the internal state of a person is likened to or contrasted with the life of nature. The landscape can be rural, urban, industrial, marine, historical (pictures of the past), fantastic (the image of the future), etc. Landscape can also perform a social function (for example, the landscape in the 3rd chapter of I.S. Turgenev’s novel “Fathers and Sons”, the city landscape in F.M. Dostoevsky’s novel “Crime and Punishment”). In lyric poetry, landscape usually has an independent meaning and reflects the perception of nature by the lyrical hero or lyrical subject.
Even small artistic detail in a literary work it often plays an important role and performs diverse functions: it can serve as an important addition to characterize the characters, their psychological state; be an expression of the author's position; can serve to create big picture morals, have a symbolic meaning, etc. Artistic details in a work are classified into portrait, landscape, world of things, and psychological details.
Basic literature: 20, 22, 50, 54,68, 69, 80, 86, 90
Further reading: 27, 28, 48, 58
1. Plot and plot. 2. Types of plots. 3. Composition of the plot. 4. Question about the plot in the lyrics. 5. Motive, its functions and types
We consider plot as a particular aspect of the composition of a literary work. One of the best domestic literary critics B.O. Corman, showing the plot in the text, called the composition "a network of relationships between stories, covering together the entire work." The events recreated by writers, along with the characters, form the basis objective world works. The plot is the organizing principle of most dramatic and epic works.
The origin of the word is French (sujet - subject, object). In everyday speech, in conversations, we use this particular word to denote a sequence of events. A plot is usually called a sequential change of situations and actions that are held together by a common idea. It is believed that the plot can be summarized in a few words. But in the science of literature, plot means other things.
1. Plot and plot
The understanding of plot as a set of events recreated in a work goes back to the works of A.N. Veselovsky. In the view of the author of the work “Historical Poetics,” a plot is a scheme of actions, a complex of motives. The patterns themselves can be repeated by many artists, and the smallest units of action, motives, can “wander” from one writer to another.
It is this understanding that is manifested in those modern research, where no distinction is made between categories such as plot and plot.
But there is a tradition of separating these concepts. The theorists of the formal school terminologically distinguished between the natural course of events and their artistic processing. B. Shklovsky called the plot material for plot design. According to B. Tomashevsky, the plot is a set of motives in their logical cause-time relationship.
According to V. Kozhinov, to denote a system of main events that can be retold, it is better to use the Greek word “fable”; this term was used by Aristotle in his work “Poetics”. Fabula (lat. fabula- story, narration) for Aristotle meant action. Kozhinov calls it the subject of the image, the main plan for the course of the action of the epic. or dramatic a work that has already been artistically organized and in which the arrangement of characters and central motifs have been identified.
A supporter of the formal method in literary criticism M.M. Bakhtin wrote: “The plot is the general course of events that can be taken from an actual life incident.” G. Pospelov, the author of the textbook “Fundamentals of the Theory of Literature,” who was influenced by Shklovsky’s theory, considers it a delusion when the plot of a work is replaced by a retelling of events. Plot is a sequence of events in a figurative narrative conveyed artistic speech and received aesthetic, artistic significance. The plot is artistically neutral. Therefore, no retelling can convey all the imagery, all the details of the plot. Transfiguration a simple story into a work of art occurs because the event outline is overgrown with artistic speech, acquiring not only informative, but also aesthetic significance.
The plot is based on information of a non-artistic nature. This is simply a conflict “scheme” that can be periodically repeated, borrowed and each time find a new specific embodiment. An example of a conflict scheme: a man, by force of circumstances, leaves his beloved for a long time, but his thoughts are divided into two: either he realizes the inviolability of her fidelity, or he imagines betrayal; finally, he decides to return secretly to check her feelings and deeds - he will either reward her for devotion or punish her for betrayal. This scheme can be complicated by any circumstances, have different endings, different variants artistic treatment and ideological and thematic load. The plots can be similar, but the plots are always unique, because they are connected with a single work, with a theme revealed in a specific way.
If the theme is the vital material that forms the basis of the work, then the plot determines the thematic orientation of the work. The plot makes up the basic outline of the plot; these are events occurring in a natural chronological sequence. Its formula can be expressed in the sentence: “The king died and then the queen died.” With this understanding, the plot grows out of the plot; it represents a more complex artistic system. In the plot order of Bunin’s “Easy Breathing,” it should have begun with the heroine’s youth and ended with death, but a rearrangement was allowed in the plot. Plot is the sequence of events in which the author places them, with the main emphasis being on their causal relationship. Therefore, the plot is a series of actions, carefully thought out by the author, which lead through struggle to a climax and denouement. “The king died and the queen died of grief” is already a plot formula. The plot may coincide with the plot ("Ionych" by Chekhov), or it may, as in the case of the Bunin story discussed, differ from it.
Modern scientist V. Khalizev gives his own, simpler definition of plot: “The chain of events depicted in a literary work, i.e. the life of the characters in its spatio-temporal changes, in changing positions and circumstances.” Taking into account various interpretations, we can offer our own, more adapted definition: plot is a system of events in a literary work that reveals the characters of the characters and the specific relationships between them.
The methods of plot construction are different. There may be an inversion of plot elements, delays in action, foreshadowing, digressions, omissions, and introductory episodes.
2. Types of plots
Depending on the nature of the connections between events, there are two types of plots. Plots with a predominance of purely temporal connections between events are chronicles. They are used in epic works of large form (Don Quixote). They can show the adventures of heroes (“Odyssey”), depict the development of a person’s personality (“Childhood Years of Bagrov the Grandson” by S. Aksakov). A chronicle story consists of episodes. Plots with a predominance of cause-and-effect relationships between events are called plots of a single action, or concentric. Concentric plots are often built on such a classicist principle as unity of action. Let us recall that in Griboyedov’s “Woe from Wit” the unity of action will be the events associated with Chatsky’s arrival at Famusov’s house. By using concentric plot one is being carefully examined conflict situation. In drama, this type of plot structure dominated until the 19th century, and in epic works of small form it is still used today. A single knot of events is most often untied in novellas and short stories by Pushkin, Chekhov, Poe, and Maupassant. Chronical and concentric principles interact in the plots of multilinear novels, where several event nodes appear simultaneously (“War and Peace” by L. Tolstoy, “The Brothers Karamazov” by F. Dostoevsky). Naturally, chronicle stories often include concentric micro-plots.
There are plots that differ in the intensity of the action. Event-filled plots are called dynamic. These events contain an important meaning, and the denouement, as a rule, carries a huge meaningful load. This type of plot is typical for Pushkin’s “Tales of Belkin” and Dostoevsky’s “The Gambler.” And vice versa, plots weakened by descriptions and inserted structures are adynamic. The development of action in them does not strive for a denouement, and the events themselves do not contain any particular interest. Adynamic plots in “Dead Souls” by Gogol, “My Life” by Chekhov.
3. Composition of the plot.
The plot is the dynamic side artistic form, it implies movement, development. The engine of the plot is most often a conflict, an artistically significant contradiction. The term comes from Lat. conflictus - collision. A conflict is an acute clash of characters and circumstances, views and life principles, underlying the action; confrontation, contradiction, clash between heroes, groups of heroes, hero and society or internal struggle hero with himself. The nature of the collision can be different: it is a contradiction of duty and inclination, assessments and forces. Conflict is one of those categories that permeate the structure of the entire work of art.
If we consider A. S. Griboedov’s play “Woe is Wit,” it is easy to see that the development of the action here clearly depends on the conflict that lurks in Famusov’s house and lies in the fact that Sophia is in love with Molchalin and hides it from daddy. Chatsky, in love with Sophia, having arrived in Moscow, notices her dislike for himself and, trying to understand the reason, keeps an eye on everyone present in the house. Sophia is unhappy with this and, defending herself, makes a remark at the ball about his madness. Guests who do not sympathize with him gladly pick up this version, because they see in Chatsky a person with views and principles different from theirs, and then it is very clearly revealed that it is not just family conflict(Sophia’s secret love for Molchalin, Molchalin’s real indifference to Sophia, Famusov’s ignorance of what is happening in the house), but also the conflict between Chatsky and society. The outcome of the action (denouement) is determined not so much by Chatsky’s relationship with society, but by the relationship of Sophia, Molchalin and Liza, having learned about which Famusov controls their fate, and Chatsky leaves their home.
In the vast majority of cases, the writer does not invent conflicts. He draws them from primary reality and transfers them from life itself into the realm of themes, issues, and pathos.
Several types of conflicts can be identified that are at the heart of dramatic and epic works. Frequently encountered conflicts are moral and philosophical: the confrontation between characters, man and fate (“Odyssey”), life and death (“The Death of Ivan Ilyich”), pride and humility (“Crime and Punishment”), genius and villainy (“Mozart and Salieri "). Social conflicts consist in the opposition of a character’s aspirations, passions, and ideas to the way of life around him (“ Stingy Knight", "Storm"). The third group of conflicts are internal, or psychological, those that are associated with contradictions in the character of one character and do not become the property of the outside world; this is the mental torment of the heroes of “The Lady with the Dog”, this is the duality of Eugene Onegin. When all these conflicts are combined into one whole, they speak of their contamination. IN to a greater extent this is achieved in novels (“Heroes of Our Time”) and epics (“War and Peace”). The conflict can be local or insoluble (tragic), obvious or hidden, external (direct clashes of positions and characters) or internal (in the soul of the hero). B. Esin also identifies a group of three types of conflicts, but calls them differently: conflict between individual characters and groups of characters; the confrontation between the hero and the way of life, the individual and the environment; the conflict is internal, psychological, when it comes to the contradiction in the hero himself. V. Kozhinov wrote almost the same about this: “ TO. (from Latin collisio - collision) - confrontation, contradiction between characters, or between characters and circumstances, or within character, underlying the action of lit. works. K. does not always speak clearly and openly; For some genres, especially idyllic ones, K. is not typical: they only have what Hegel called “situation”<...>In an epic, drama, novel, short story, K. usually forms the core of the theme, and the resolution of K. appears as the defining moment of the artist. ideas...” “Artist. K. is a clash and contradiction between integral human individuals.” "TO. is a kind of source of energy lit. production, because it determines its action.” “During the course of action, it can worsen or, conversely, weaken; in the end the conflict is resolved one way or another.”
The development of K. sets the plot action in motion.
The plot indicates the stages of action, the stages of the existence of the conflict.
An ideal, that is, complete, model of the plot of a literary work may include the following fragments, episodes, links: prologue, exposition, plot, development of action, peripeteia, climax, denouement, epilogue. There are three mandatory elements in this list: the plot, the development of the action and the climax. Optional - the rest, that is, not all of the existing elements must take place in the work. The components of the plot can appear in different sequences.
Prologue(gr. prolog - preface) is an introduction to the main plot actions. It may give the root cause of events: the dispute about the happiness of men in “Who Lives Well in Rus'.” It clarifies the author's intentions and depicts the events preceding the main action. These events may affect the organization artistic space- scene.
Exposition(from Latin expositio - presentation, display) is an explanation, a depiction of the life of the characters in the period before the conflict. It gives the arrangement and relationships of the characters in a play, novel, story, short story, poem. For example, the life of young Onegin. It may contain biographical facts and motivate subsequent actions. An exposition can set the conventions of time and space and depict events preceding the plot. A. Kvyatkovsky’s “Poetic Dictionary” also speaks about exposition in a lyric poem: “Exposition is usually given in the first stanza, where the initial thought is expressed, which is developed in further stanzas.” We think that the term in such a context takes on a metaphorical meaning rather than retaining its main meaning.
The beginning– this is conflict detection.
Development of action is a group of events necessary for the conflict to occur. It presents twists that escalate the conflict.
Unexpected circumstances that complicate a conflict are called twists and turns.
Climax - (from Latin culmen - top ) - the moment of the highest tension of action, the utmost aggravation of contradictions; the pinnacle of conflict; K. reveals the main problem of the work and the characters of the characters most fully; after it the effect weakens. Often precedes the denouement. In works with many storylines It is possible that there is not one, but several K.
Denouement- this is the resolution of the conflict in the work; it completes the course of events in action-packed works, for example, short stories. But often the ending of works does not contain a resolution to the conflict. Moreover, in the endings of many works, sharp contradictions between the characters remain. This happens both in “Woe from Wit” and in “Eugene Onegin”: Pushkin leaves Eugene at “an evil moment for him.” There are no resolutions in “Boris Godunov” and “The Lady with the Dog.” The endings of these works are open. In Pushkin's tragedy and Chekhov's story, with all the incompleteness of the plot, the last scenes contain emotional endings and climaxes.
Epilogue(gr. epilogos - afterword) is the final episode, usually following the denouement. In this part of the work, the fate of the heroes is briefly reported. The epilogue depicts the final consequences arising from the events shown. This is a conclusion in which the author can formally complete the story, determine the fate of the heroes, and summarize his philosophical, historical concept (“War and Peace”). The epilogue appears when resolution alone is not enough. Or in the case when, after the completion of the main plot events, it is necessary to express a different point of view (“The Queen of Spades”), to evoke in the reader a feeling about the final outcome of the depicted life of the characters.
The events related to the resolution of one conflict of one group of characters constitute a storyline. Accordingly, if there are different storylines, there may be several climaxes. In “Crime and Punishment” this is the murder of a pawnbroker, but this is also Raskolnikov’s conversation with Sonya Marmeladova.
4. Question about the plot in the lyrics.
Having a plot in a literary work is sometimes problematic. From most definitions it is clear that plot is an artistic way of organizing events, which means that it is associated primarily with epic and dramatic works. To a lesser extent, the plot manifests itself in the lyrics. In an epic work, the plot has its own form of existence - narration. In drama it is the development of action. What about the lyrics? After all, poetry has more expressiveness, and the word denotes events and objects to a lesser extent.
Lydia Ginzburg and Boris Korman suggested talking about the specifics of the lyrical plot, by which we mean that the word itself in small work becomes an event and the plot in the lyrics is a combination of such words-events. The poem “I loved you...” depicts the movement of a person’s feelings, and not a change in events. More precisely, the event in the poem is a change in the soul. This is a love story that lives only in the heart, without pouring out into the objective, external world.
Scientists therefore say that there are no specific plots in the lyrics, but there is a lyrical, that is, psychological, plot, non-fable motives. In many works of “pure lyricism” there is a chain of mental movements objectified by speech, there is the reality of experiences, states human soul. There is nothing to retell in them.
The plot that appears in a lyrical work transforms it into a lyric-epic or lyric-dramatic plane. This is typical for ballads and poems. B. Tomashevsky wrote: “Fabulous motives are rare in lyric poetry. Static motives appear much more often, unfolding into emotional series. If the poem talks about some action, the act of a hero, an event, then the motive of this action is not woven into the causal-temporal chain and is devoid of plot tension that requires a plot resolution. Actions and events appear in the lyrics in the same way as natural phenomena, without forming a plot situation.” “Lyrics are a non-story genre. The lyrics convey the poet's feelings; elements of the story, action, plot are dissolved here in emotional experience,” and events, facts are only a reason for the poet’s experiences, and they are completely dissolved in these experiences. The poet’s immersion in his emotional experiences, in a lyrical state, allows him to reduce the plot to a minimum and even eliminate it completely.
The paradox associated with the fate of the concept WITH. in the twentieth century, is that as soon as philology learned to study it, literature began to destroy it. So, if in ancient and medieval literature the plot grew out of the plot, then in the literature of the 19th century and later its basis may be different. Tolstoy, for example, speaking about the structure of Anna Karenina, emphasized not the plot significance, but the role of “internal connection”. V. Kozhinov explains that internal connection should be understood as “a certain correlation of characters and circumstances, a specific connection of artistic thoughts.”
Russian scientists and representatives of the formal school played a decisive role in the study of the plot. Writers of modernism and postmodernism played a role in the destruction of the plot (see, for example, the new novel, theater of the absurd).
5. Motive, its functions and types
Scientists call the motive either the smallest event unit of the plot, or the unit of the plot, or an element of the text in general, regardless of the plot or plot. Let's try to understand the different interpretations of one of the most common terms.
There are many opinions on the origin of the motif: from him. motive, French motif, from lat. moveo - moving, from French. motif – melody, tune.
In the Russian science of literature, A.N. was the first to turn to the concept of motive. Veselovsky. Analyzing myths and fairy tales, he came to the conclusion that the motive is the simplest narrative unit, which cannot be further decomposed. From our point of view, this category has a plot character.
The thematic concept of the motif is developed in the works of B. Tomashevsky and V. Shklovsky. In their understanding, a motive is the themes into which a work can be divided. Each sentence contains motives - small themes
Most folklore and literary works have a motif, being the smallest element of the plot. The outstanding Russian folklorist V. Ya. Propp played a huge role in the study of the plot. In his book “The Morphology of the Fairy Tale” (1929), he demonstrated the possibility of the existence of several motives in a sentence. Therefore, he abandoned the term motive and resorted to his own category: the functions of the characters. He built a model of the plot of a fairy tale, consisting of sequences of elements. According to Propp, there are a limited number of such functions of heroes (31); Not all fairy tales have all the functions, but the sequence of the main functions is strictly observed. The fairy tale usually begins with the parents leaving the house (absentee function) and turning to the children with a ban on going outside, opening the door, or touching anything (prohibition). As soon as the parents leave, the children immediately violate this prohibition (violation of the prohibition), etc. The meaning of Propp's discovery was that his scheme was suitable for all fairy tales. All fairy tales have the motive of the road, the motive of searching for the missing bride, the motive of recognition. From these numerous motives various plots are formed. In this meaning, the term motive is more often used in relation to works of oral folk art. “Morozko acts differently than Baba Yaga. But a function, as such, is a constant quantity. To study a fairy tale, the question is important What do fairy tale characters, and the question Who does and How does - these are questions of only incidental study. The functions of the characters represent those components with which Veselovsky’s “motives” can be replaced...”
In most cases, a motif is a repeated word, phrase, situation, object or idea. Most often, the term “motive” is used to designate a situation that is repeated in various literary works, for example, the motive of parting with a loved one.
Motifs help create images and have various functions in the structure of the work. Thus, the mirror motif in V. Nabokov’s prose has at least 3 functions. Firstly, epistemologically: the mirror is a means of characterizing the character and becomes a way of self-knowledge of the hero. Secondly, this motif carries an ontological load: it acts as a boundary between worlds, organizing complex spatio-temporal relationships. And thirdly, the mirror motif can perform an axiological function, expressing moral, aesthetic, and artistic values. Thus, the hero of the novel “Despair” turns out to have a favorite word for mirror, he likes to write this word backwards, loves reflections, similarities, but is completely unable to see the difference and goes so far as to mistake a person with a dissimilar appearance for his double. Nabokovsky's Herman kills in order to mystify those around him, to make them believe in his death. The mirror motif is invariant, that is, it has a stable basis that can be filled with new meaning in a new context. Therefore he appears in various options in many other texts where the main ability of a mirror is in demand - to reflect, to double an object.
Each motive generates an associative field for the character, for example, in Pushkin’s story “ Stationmaster» motive prodigal son is set by pictures hanging on the walls of the caretaker’s house, and is revealed with particular poignancy when his daughter comes to his grave. The motif of the house can be included in the space of the city, which, in turn, can consist of motifs of temptation, seduction, demonism. The literature of Russian emigrants is most often characterized by a mood that is revealed in the motifs of nostalgia, emptiness, loneliness, and emptiness.
A motive is a semantic (content) element of the text that is essential for understanding the author’s concept (for example, the motive of death in “The Tale of dead princess..." by A.S. Pushkin, the motive of loneliness in the lyrics of M.Yu. Lermontov, the motive of cold in " Easy breathing" and "Cold Autumn" by I.A. Bunin, the motif of the full moon in "The Master and Margarita" by M.A. Bulgakov). M., as a stable formal-contain. component lit. text, can be selected within one or several. prod. writer (for example, a certain cycle), and in the complex of his entire work, as well as k.-l. lit. direction or an entire era.” The motif may contain elements of symbolization (a road by N.V. Gogol, a garden by Chekhov, a desert by M.Yu. Lermontov). The motif has a direct verbal (in lexemes) fixation in the text of the work itself; in poetry, its criterion in most cases is the presence of a key, supporting word that carries a special semantic load (smoke in Tyutchev, exile in Lermontov).
According to N. Tamarchenko, each motive has two forms of existence: a situation and an event. A situation is a set of circumstances, a position, a situation in which the characters find themselves. An event is something that happened, a significant phenomenon or fact of personal or public life. An event changes the situation. A motif is the simplest narrative unit that connects the events and situations that make up the lives of the characters in a literary work. An event is something that happened, a phenomenon, a fact of personal or public life. The situation is a set of circumstances, positions in which the characters find themselves, as well as the relationship between them. The event changes this ratio. Motives can be dynamic or adynamic. Motives of the first type accompany changes in the situation, as opposed to a static motive.
IN last years In literary criticism, a synthesis of approaches to understanding motive is planned. This movement was largely determined by the works of R. Yakobson, A. Zholkovsky and Yu. Shcheglov. The motive is no longer considered as part of the plot or plot. Having lost its connection with the event, the motive is now interpreted as almost any semantic repetition in the text - a repeating semantic spot. This means that the use of this category is quite legitimate when analyzing lyrical works. The motive can be not only an event, a character trait, but also an object, sound, or landscape element that has increased semantic significance in the text. A motive is always a repetition, but the repetition is not lexical, but functional-semantic. That is, in a work it can be manifested through many options.
Motives can be varied, among them are archetypal, cultural and many others. Archetypal ones are associated with the expression of the collective unconscious (the motive of selling the soul to the devil). Myths and archetypes represent a collective, culturally authoritative variety of motifs to which French thematic criticism devoted itself to the study of the 1960s. Cultural motifs were born and developed in works of literature, painting, music, and other arts. Italian motifs in Pushkin’s lyrics are a layer of the diverse culture of Italy mastered by the poet: from the works of Dante and Petrarch to the poetry of the ancient Romans.
Along with the concept of motive, there is the concept of leitmotif.
Leitmotif. A term of Germanic origin, literally meaning "leading motive". This is a frequently repeated image or motif that conveys the main mood; it is also a complex of homogeneous motifs. Thus, the leitmotif of “the vanity of life” usually consists of motives of temptation, seduction, and anti-home. The leitmotif of “return to lost heaven“is characteristic of many of Nabokov’s works in the Russian-language period of creativity and includes motifs of nostalgia, longing for childhood, and sadness about the loss of a child’s outlook on life. In Chekhov's "The Seagull" the leitmotif is a sounding image - the sound of a broken string. Leitmotifs are used to create subtext in a work. When combined, they form the leitmotif structure of the work.
Literature
1. Fundamentals of literary criticism: Textbook. manual for philological faculties of pedagogy. university / Under the general ed. V. P. Meshcheryakova. M.: Moscow Lyceum, 2000. pp. 30–34.
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additional literature
1. History and narration: Sat. articles. M.: New Literary Review, 2006. 600 p.
2. Materials for the “Dictionary of Plots and Motives of Russian Literature”: from plot to motive / Ed. V.I. Tyupy. Novosibirsk: Institute of Philology SB RAS, 1996. 192 p.
3. Theory of literature: Textbook. manual: In 2 volumes / Ed. N. D. Tamarchenko. – M.: Publishing house. Center "Academy", 2004. T. 1. P. 183–205.
Kozhinov V. Plot, plot, composition. pp. 408-485.
Corman B.O. Integrity of a literary work and experimental vocabulary literary terms. P.45.
Medvedev P.N. Formal method in literary criticism. L., 1928. P.187.
Plot // Introduction to literary criticism. P.381.
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Plot (from French sujet - subject)
1) in literature - the development of action, the course of events in narrative and dramatic works, and sometimes in lyrical works. To literature the word "S." first used in the 17th century. classicists P. Corneille and N. Boileau, meaning, following Aristotle, incidents in the lives of legendary heroes of antiquity (for example, Antigone and Creon or Medea and Jason), borrowed by playwrights of later times. But Aristotle in his Poetics used to refer to such incidents ancient Greek word“myth” (мýthos) in the sense of “tradition”, which in Russian literary criticism is usually translated incorrectly by the Latin word “fable”. The Latin word “fabula” (from the same root as the verb fabulari - to tell, narrate) was used by Roman writers to designate all kinds of stories, including myths and fables, and became widespread much earlier than the French term “S.” In German classical aesthetics (Schelling, Hegel), the events depicted in works were called “action” (Handlung). The difference in terms denoting one phenomenon has made them unstable and ambiguous. In modern Soviet literary-critical and school practice, the terms “S.” and “fabula” are understood either as synonyms, or S. is called the entire course of events, and fabula is the main artistic conflict that develops in them (in both cases the terms are doubled). In literary criticism, two other interpretations collide. In the 1920s representatives of OPOYAZ proposed an important distinction between the two sides of the narrative: the development of the events themselves in the lives of the characters, the order and method of reporting about them by the author-storyteller; giving great importance Based on how the work was “made”, they began to call S. the second side, and the first - the plot. This tradition continues to be preserved (see “The Theory of Literature...” in three volumes, vol. 2, M., 1964). Another tradition comes from Russian democratic critics of the mid-19th century, as well as from A. N. Veselovsky (See Veselovsky) and M. Gorky; all of them S. called the development of action (Belinsky V.G.: “Gogol’s poem can be fully enjoyed only by those who... the content is important, and not the “plot”” - Complete collection soch., vol. 6, 1955, p. 219; Gorky M.: “... The plot... connections, contradictions, likes and dislikes and in general the relationships of people...” - Collection of works, vol. 27, 1953, p. 215). Such terminology is not only more traditional and familiar, but also more etymologically accurate (S., in the meaning of the word, is the “subject”, that is, what is being narrated, the plot; from the same point of view, the story itself about S.). However, it is important for supporters of this theory to assimilate the theoretical innovation of the “formal school” and, calling the main, objective side of the narrative or stage action, use the term “plot” to designate the second, actually compositional side (see Composition). S. works are one of the most important means of embodying the content - the generalizing “thought” of the writer, his ideological and emotional understanding of the real characteristics of life, expressed through a verbal image fictional characters in their individual actions and relationships. S. in all its unique originality is the main aspect of the form (and thereby the style (See Style)) of the work in its correspondence with the content, and not the content itself, as is often understood in school practice. The entire structure of the story, its conflicts and the relationship between narrative and dialogic episodes that develop them must be studied functionally, in its connections with the content, in its ideological and aesthetic significance. At the same time, it is necessary to distinguish S. in its uniqueness from abstract plot, or more precisely, conflict “schemes” (A loves B, but B loves C, etc.), which can be historically repeated, borrowed and each time find a new concrete artistic embodiment . On early stages historical development his epic stories were built on the temporary, chronicle principle of combining episodes ( fairy tales, knightly and picaresque novels). Later, in European epic, concentric conflicts appeared, based on a single conflict. In the concentric style of epic and drama, the conflict runs through the entire work and is distinguished by the definiteness of its plot (See Plot) and climax (See Climax).
and interchanges (See Interchange). Only on the basis of the analysis of S. can one functionally analyze the plot of a work in all the complex relationships of its own aspects (see Plot). 2) In the visual arts, a specific event or situation depicted in a work and often indicated in its title. Unlike theme (See theme) ,
S. is a specific, detailed, figurative and narrative disclosure of the idea of a work. S.'s particular complexity is typical for works of everyday and historical genres. Lit.: Aristotle. On the art of poetry, M., 1937; Lessing G. E., Laocoon, or On the Borders of Painting and Poetry, M., 1957; Hegel, Aesthetics, vol. 1, M., 1968: Belinsky V.G., Complete. collection soch., vol. 5, M., 1954, p. 219; Veselovsky A. N., Poetics of plots, in his book: Historical poetics, Leningrad, 1940; Shklovsky V.B., On the theory of prose, M.-L., 1925; Medvedev P. N., Formal method in literary criticism, L., 1928: Freidenberg O. M., Poetics of plot and genre, L., 1936; Kozhinov V.V., Plot, plot, composition, in the book: Theory of Literature..., vol. 2, M., 1964; Questions of film dramaturgy, in. 5 - Plot in cinema, M., 1965; Pospelov G.N., Problems of literary style, M., 1970; Lotman Yu. M., The structure of a literary text, M., 1970; Timofeev L.I., Fundamentals of the Theory of Literature, M., 1971; Wellek R., Warren A., Theory of literature, 3 ed., N. Y., 1963. G. N. Pospelov(S. in literature).
Great Soviet Encyclopedia. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. 1969-1978 .
Synonyms:See what “Plot” is in other dictionaries:
- (from the French sujet subject) in literature, drama, theater, cinema and games, a series of events (sequence of scenes, acts) occurring in a work of art (on the theater stage) and built for the reader (viewer, player) ... Wikipedia
1. S. in literature, a reflection of the dynamics of reality in the form of the action unfolding in the work, in the form of internally connected (causal and temporal connection) actions of characters, events that form a certain unity, constituting some ... Literary encyclopedia
plot- a, m. sujet m. 1. An event or a series of interconnected and sequentially developing events that make up the content of a literary work. BAS 1. || trans. Relationships. He is a beginner and immediately understands the camera's plot: hidden power P … Historical Dictionary of Gallicisms of the Russian Language
Plot- PLOT is the narrative core of a work of art, a system of effective (factual) mutual direction and arrangement of speakers in this work persons (objects), provisions put forward in it, events developing in it... ... Dictionary literary terms
- (French, from Latin subjectum subject). The content, the interweaving of external circumstances that form the basis of the known. literary or arts. works; in music: fugue theme. In theatrical language, an actor or actress. Dictionary foreign words, included in... ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language
Cm … Synonym dictionary
- (from French sujet subject, subject) sequence of events in a literary text. The paradox associated with the fate of the concept of S. in the twentieth century is that as soon as philology learned to study it, literature began to destroy it. In studying C... Encyclopedia of Cultural Studies
PLOT, plot, husband. (French sujet). 1. A set of actions and events in which the main content of a work of art is revealed (lit.). Plot Queen of Spades Pushkin. Choose something as the plot of a novel. 2. transfer Content, topic of what... ... Dictionary Ushakova
From life. Razg. Joking. iron. About what l. an everyday life episode, an ordinary everyday story. Mokienko 2003, 116. Plot for a short story. Razg. Joking. iron. 1. Something worth talking about. 2. Which l. strange, interesting story. /i> From... ... Large dictionary of Russian sayings
The idea of a work of art.
Idea(from the Greek idea - prototype, ideal) - the main idea of the work, expressed through its entire figurative system. It is the method of expression that distinguishes the idea of a work of art from a scientific idea.
The main thesis of statements about the art of V.G. Plekhanov – “art cannot live without an idea” - and he repeats this thought several times, analyzing this or that work of art. “The dignity of a work of art,” writes Plekhanov, “is ultimately determined by the specific gravity of the feeling, the depth of the idea that it expresses.”
For educational literature of the 16th century. was characterized by a high ideological level, due to the desire to reorganize society on the principles of reason. At the same time, the so-called salon, aristocratic literature “in the Rococo style”, devoid of high citizenship, also developed.
And in the future, two parallel ideological currents have always existed and exist in literature and art, sometimes touching and mixing, but more often separating and developing independently, gravitating towards opposite poles.
In this regard, the problem of the relationship between “ideological” and “artistry” in a work seems extremely important. But even outstanding artists words are not always able to translate the idea of a plan into a perfect artistic form. Most often, writers who are completely “absorbed” in the implementation of this or that idea, stray into ordinary journalism and rhetoric, leaving artistic expressiveness in the second and third plans. This applies equally to all genres of art. According to V.G. Belinsky, the idea of a work “is not an abstract thought, not a dead form, but a living creation.”
1. 1. Theme of the work of art .
Subject(from the Greek theme) - what is the basis, the main problem and the main circle of life events depicted by the writer. The theme of the work is inextricably linked with its idea. The selection of material, formulation of problems (choice of topic) is dictated by the ideas that the author would like to express in the work.
It was about this connection between the theme and the idea of a work that M. Gorky wrote: “A theme is an idea that originated in the author’s experience, is suggested to him by life, but nests in the container of his impressions still unformed, and requiring embodiment in images, arouses in him a urge to work its design."
Along with the term “topic”, the term “subject”, which is close in meaning to it, is often used. subject matter" Its use indicates that the work includes not only the main one, but also a number of auxiliary themes and thematic lines; or the themes of many works are in close connection with one, or a set of several related themes, forming a broad theme of one class.
The plot of a work of art.
Plot(from the French sujet - subject) - the course of the narrative about the events unfolding and happening in a work of art. As a rule, any such episode is subordinated to the main or subplot.
However, in literary criticism there is no uniform definition of this term. There are three main approaches:
1) plot is a way of developing a theme or presenting a plot;
2) plot is a way of developing a theme or presenting a plot;
3) plot and plot have no fundamental difference.
The plot is based on a conflict (a clash of interests and characters) between the characters. That is why where there is no narrative (lyrics), there is no plot.
The term “plot” was introduced in the 11th century. classicists P. Corneille and N. Boileau, but they were followers of Aristotle. Aristotle called what is called “plot” “legend”. Hence the “course of the story.”
The plot consists of the following main elements:
Exposition
Action development
Climax
Denouement
Exposition(Latin expositio - explanation, presentation) - a plot element containing a description of the lives of the characters before they begin to act in the work. Direct exposure located at the beginning of the story, delayed exposure fits anywhere, but I must say that modern writers rarely use this plot element.
The beginning- the initial, starting episode of the plot. She usually appears at the beginning of the story, but this is not the rule. So, about Chichikov’s desire to buy dead Souls we find out only at the end of Gogol's poem.
Development of action proceeds “according to the will” of the characters in the narrative and the author’s intention. The development of action precedes the climax.
Climax(from Latin culmen - top) - the moment of the highest tension of action in the work, its turning point. After the climax comes the denouement.
Denouement- the final part of the plot, the end of the action, where the conflict is resolved and the motivation for the actions of the main and some is revealed minor characters and their psychological portraits are clarified.
The denouement sometimes precedes the plot, especially in detective works, where in order to interest the reader and capture his attention, the story begins with a murder.
Other supporting plot elements are prologue, backstory, author's digression, inserted novella And epilogue.
However, in the modern literary process we often do not encounter detailed expositions, prologues and epilogues, or other elements of the plot, and sometimes even the plot itself is blurred, barely outlined, or even completely absent.
4. The plot of a work of art.
Fabula (from Latin fabula - fable, story) - a sequence of events. This term was introduced by ancient Roman writers, apparently referring to the same property of storytelling that Aristotle spoke about.
Subsequently, the use of the terms “plot” and “fable” led to confusion, which is almost impossible to resolve without introducing other, clarifying and explanatory terms.
IN modern literary criticism The interpretation of correlation and plot, proposed by representatives of the Russian “formal school” and discussed in detail in the works of G. Pospelov, is more often used. They understand the plot as “the events themselves,” chronologically recorded, while the plot is “a story about events.”
Academician A.N. Veselovsky in his work “Historical Poetics” (1906) proposed the concept of “ motive ", giving it the meaning of the simplest narrative unit, similar to the concept of "element" in the periodic table. Combinations of the simplest motifs form, according to Veselovsky, the plot of a work of art.
5. Composition(from Latin compositio - composition, linking) - the construction, arrangement of all elements of the form of a work of art, determined by its content, nature and purpose and largely determining its perception by the viewer, reader, listener.
Composition can be internal or external.
To the sphere internal composition include all static elements of the work: portrait, landscape, interior, as well as extra-plot elements - exposition (prologue, introduction, background), epilogue, inserted episodes, short stories; digressions (lyrical, philosophical, journalistic); motivations for narration and description; forms of speech of the characters (monologue, dialogue, correspondence, diary, notes; forms of narration (spatial-temporal, psychological, ideological, phraseological.
TO external composition include division epic work into books, parts and chapters; lyrical - into parts and stanzas; lyric-epic - for songs; dramatic - on acts and pictures.
Much is known today about composition, as well as about other elements of the plot of a work of art, but not every author manages to create an ideal composition. The point, obviously, is not so much in “knowing” how to do it, but in having the talent, taste and sense of proportion of the artist.
the features of a work of fiction are taken into account in the editorial analysis.
a work of art, an artistic object can be viewed from two points of view - from the point of view of its meaning (as an aesthetic object) and from the point of view of its form (as an external work).
the meaning of an artistic object, enclosed in a certain form, is aimed at reflecting the artist’s understanding of the surrounding reality. and the editor, when evaluating an essay, must proceed from an analysis of the “plane of meaning” and the “plane of fact” of the work (M. M. Bakhtin).
an artistic object is a point of interaction between the meaning and the fact of art. an artistic object demonstrates the surrounding world, conveying it in aesthetic form and revealing the ethical side of the world.
For editorial analysis, such an approach to the consideration of a work of art is productive, in which the work is examined in its connection with the reader. It is the influence of the work on the individual that should be the starting point in evaluating an artistic object.
an artistic object includes three stages: the stage of creation of the work, the stage of its alienation from the master and independent existence, the stage of perception of the work.
As the starting point of the unifying principle of a work of artistic process, in editorial analysis it is necessary to consider the concept of the work. It is the concept that brings together all the stages of an artistic object. This is evidenced by the attention of the artist, musician, writer to the selection of appropriate expressive means when creating works that are aimed at expressing the master’s intention.
in the book “how our word will respond” the writer Yu. Trifonov notes: “the highest concept of a thing - that is, why all this damage to paper - is constantly in you, it is a given, your breath, which you do not notice, but without which you cannot live.”
the idea embodied in a work of art, it is the idea that is, first of all, perceived by the reader, the stage of perception artistic creativity.
and the whole artistic process is, as already mentioned, a dialogical process of communication between the artist and those who perceive the work.
the writer evaluates what surrounds him and talks about how he would like reality to be. or rather, it does not “say”, but reflects the world in such a way that the reader understands it. in a work of art the presence and necessity of life is realized, the artist’s interpretation is carried out life values. It is the plan that absorbs the writer’s value guidelines and determines the selection of vital material for the work.
but the concept of design not only characterizes the main meaning of the work. the intention is the main component of the impact of a work of art at the moment of its perception.
Thus, the subject of art is not only a person and his connections and relationships with the world. The subject area of the work also includes the personality of the book’s author, who evaluates the surrounding reality.
Having assessed the idea, the editor determines how well the material used by the author corresponds to the idea. Thus, a large, large-scale plan requires a large form, for example, it can be realized in the genre of a novel. a plan that reveals the intimate aspects of a person’s fate, in the genre of a story or short story. considering the genre of a work, the editor responds to the most main question, associated with assessing the quality of the work, is the question of the completeness of the disclosure of the plan. Thus, having examined the plan of meaning of the work, the editor analyzes the plan of fact. more details about the editor's assessment of the concept and genre originality artistic will be discussed below. Having answered the question of what the author said, the editor evaluates how he said it, i.e., analyzes the writer’s skill. at the same time, the editor focuses on the basic laws, patterns, and nature of art.
in art artistic image is a means of understanding the surrounding reality, a means of mastering the world, and also a means of recreating reality in a work of art - in an artistic object.
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