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| {{Short description|Recurring element that has symbolic significance in a story}} | |||
| {{cleanup|date=July 2008}} | |||
| {{other uses|Motif (disambiguation)|Motive (disambiguation)}} | |||
| {{Refimprove|date= February 2008 }} | |||
| A '''motif''' ({{IPAc-en|audio=en-us-motif.ogg|m|oʊ|'|t|iː|f}} {{respell|moh|TEEF}}) is any distinctive feature or idea that recurs across a ]; often, it helps develop other narrative elements such as ] or ].<ref name="Grayson">{{ cite book | author= James H. Grayson | title=Myths and Legends from Korea: An Annotated Compendium of Ancient and Modern Materials| page= 9 | |||
| {{otheruses|Motive}} | |||
| | place= New York and Abingdon | publisher= ] Curzon | date= 2000 | isbn = 0-7007-1241-0}} | |||
| A motif is an uncommon element that recurs within a work or within a group of works. The criterion of uncommonness, in the sense of not being found in ordinary, everyday life, is essential to the definition. So, for example, the appearance in a story of a cup is not a motif, but the appearance of a cup that can never be filled or emptied is. | |||
| </ref><ref name ="filmnoir">{{Cite book|last1=Silver|first1=Alain|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QHe_SWJmzhMC&q=visual%2520motifs&pg=PA65|title=Film Noir Reader |last2=Ursini |first2=James |date=1996 |publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation |isbn=978-0-87910-197-8|page= 65}}</ref> | |||
| A narrative motif can be created through the use of ], structural components, ], and other elements throughout literature. The flute in ]'s play '']'' is a recurrent sound motif that conveys rural and idyllic notions. Another example from modern ] is the green light found in the novel '']'' by ]. | |||
| Often, sophisticated contemporary writers incorporate in their works motifs borrowed from the oral tradition, as when novelist Toni Morrison made use in Song of Solomon (1977) of the motif of people who can fly, which she borrowed from tales told in West Africa and by descendants of West Africans living in the sea islands off the southeastern coast of the United States. See "All God's Chillen Had Wings," a folktale reprinted in The Norton Anthology of African American Literature, edited by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and Nellie Y. McKay. | |||
| Narratives may include multiple motifs of varying types. In ]'s play '']'', he uses a variety of narrative elements to create many different motifs. ] references to blood and water are continually repeated. The phrase "fair is foul, and foul is fair" is echoed at many points in the play, a combination that mixes the concepts of ]. The play also features the central motif of the ], one that combines both verbal images and the movement of the actors. | |||
| The following are a few examples of motifs from myths and folktales around the world: | |||
| In a narrative, a motif establishes a pattern of ideas that may serve different conceptual purposes in different works. ], for example, in his ] narratives such as '']'' and '']'' makes frequent use of ''motif'' to connect different moments that might seem otherwise separated by time and space.<ref>"Kurt Vonnegut, Jr." ''Encyclopedia of World Biography''. Thomson Gale. 2004. HighBeam Research. 26 August 2010</ref> In the American ] ] classic '']'', director ] uses motifs to not only establish a dark and shadowy ] atmosphere,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Blade Runner 1982 | url = http://www.aboutfilm.com/movies/b/bladerunner.htm | date= 2000 |work = AboutFilm.com | author= Carlo| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20001120105200/http://www.aboutfilm.com/movies/b/bladerunner.htm | archive-date = 2000-11-20 }}</ref> but also to weave together the thematic complexities of the plot. Throughout the film, the recurring motif of "eyes" is connected to a constantly changing flow of images, and sometimes violent manipulations, in order to call into question our ability, and the narrator's own, to accurately perceive and understand reality.<ref>Bukatman, pp. 9–11.</ref> | |||
| The loathsome bride or groom | |||
| Narrative motifs can be ironic. For example, in ]'s ] novel, control is a recurring motif via chapter title and topic of discussion; it's an ironic motif that is instantiated in the constant creation of the unknown and the belief that it can be controlled and contained. The irony is explained through the articulation of ]'s dialogue.{{clarification needed|date=June 2024}}{{or|date=June 2024}} | |||
| Transformation of people into animals | |||
| == Usage == | |||
| The grateful dead | |||
| Any number of narrative elements with ] significance can be classified as motifs—whether they are images, spoken or written phrases, structural or stylistic ], or other elements like sound, physical movement, or visual components in dramatic narratives. While it may appear interchangeable with the related concept, '']'',<ref>{{cite web | title = WordNet 3.0 | publisher = Princeton University | year = 2006 | url = http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=theme | accessdate = 2010-08-26 | archive-date = 2020-09-25 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200925081844/http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=theme | url-status = live }}</ref> a general rule is that a theme is abstract and a motif is concrete.<ref>{{cite book|last=Abbott|first=H. Porter|title=The Cambridge Introduction to Narrative|year=2008|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=978-0-521-88719-9|pages=95|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jyyt1826rhsC&dq=motif+theme&pg=PA95}}</ref> A theme is usually defined as a message, statement, or idea, while a motif is simply a detail repeated for larger symbolic meaning. | |||
| In other words, a narrative motif—a detail repeated in a pattern of meaning—can produce a theme; but it can also create other narrative aspects. Nevertheless, the distinction between the two terms remains difficult to pinpoint. For instance, the term "]" has been used to describe the way in which "recurrent thematic concepts" are patterned to produce meaning, such as the "moralistic motifs" found throughout the stories of '']''.<ref name="Heath">{{citation|first=Peter|last=Heath|title=Reviewed work(s) ''Story-Telling Techniques in the Arabian Nights'' by David Pinault|journal=]|volume=26|issue=2|date=May 1994|publisher=]|pages=358–360 |doi=10.1017/s0020743800060633|s2cid=162223060 }}</ref> | |||
| The soul in the form of a butterfly | |||
| The icubus | |||
| The changeling | |||
| The foolish bargain | |||
| Race won by deception | |||
| The disguised god, hero, or noble | |||
| Natural disaster as punishment for a people's transgressions | |||
| The dying and resurrected god | |||
| The cruel sister | |||
| What makes these motifs, of course, is that they are uncommon, in the sense that they are not ordinary or quotidian, and that they recur in stories, poems, and other works from around the world. | |||
| One may also, of course, speak of motifs that occur with a single work or within works by a single author or singer. The following are some examples of motifs in the fiction of Kurt Vonnegut: | |||
| the granfalloon (an arbitrary but essentially meaningless association of human beings, such as Hoosiers, people born on Tuesday, people with the name Sarah, members of the fraternal order of whatever, etc.) | |||
| the random, absurd, but cataclysmic event (such as the bombing of Dresden or the destruction of the universe in an accident resulting from the testing by Trafalmadorians of a new rocket fuel) | |||
| the thwarting of human expectations that the universe will be purposeful and proceed according to design | |||
| Motifs are often used to classify literary works and works from the oral tradition, notably in the work of folklorists Antii Arne and Stith Thompson, which is currently undergoing revision by Hans-Jörg Uther. Stith Thompson was the author of the massive, definitive work in the field of typing by motif, Motif-Index of Folk-Literature (1932-37). | |||
| == See also == | == See also == | ||
| * ] | * ] | ||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | * ] | ||
| * ] | * ] | ||
| * ] | |||
| == References == | == References == | ||
| {{Reflist}} | |||
| {{The Aarne, Thompson, Uther classification system: http://oaks.nvg.org/folktale-types.html}} | |||
| == External links == | |||
| *{{Wiktionary inline|motif}} | |||
| {{Narrative}} | |||
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Latest revision as of 22:14, 1 July 2024
Recurring element that has symbolic significance in a story For other uses, see Motif (disambiguation) and Motive (disambiguation).A motif (/moʊˈtiːf/ moh-TEEF) is any distinctive feature or idea that recurs across a story; often, it helps develop other narrative elements such as theme or mood.
A narrative motif can be created through the use of imagery, structural components, language, and other elements throughout literature. The flute in Arthur Miller's play Death of a Salesman is a recurrent sound motif that conveys rural and idyllic notions. Another example from modern American literature is the green light found in the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Narratives may include multiple motifs of varying types. In Shakespeare's play Macbeth, he uses a variety of narrative elements to create many different motifs. Imagistic references to blood and water are continually repeated. The phrase "fair is foul, and foul is fair" is echoed at many points in the play, a combination that mixes the concepts of good and evil. The play also features the central motif of the washing of hands, one that combines both verbal images and the movement of the actors.
In a narrative, a motif establishes a pattern of ideas that may serve different conceptual purposes in different works. Kurt Vonnegut, for example, in his non-linear narratives such as Slaughterhouse-Five and Cat's Cradle makes frequent use of motif to connect different moments that might seem otherwise separated by time and space. In the American science fiction cult classic Blade Runner, director Ridley Scott uses motifs to not only establish a dark and shadowy film noir atmosphere, but also to weave together the thematic complexities of the plot. Throughout the film, the recurring motif of "eyes" is connected to a constantly changing flow of images, and sometimes violent manipulations, in order to call into question our ability, and the narrator's own, to accurately perceive and understand reality.
Narrative motifs can be ironic. For example, in Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park novel, control is a recurring motif via chapter title and topic of discussion; it's an ironic motif that is instantiated in the constant creation of the unknown and the belief that it can be controlled and contained. The irony is explained through the articulation of Dr. Ian Malcolm's dialogue.
Usage
Any number of narrative elements with symbolic significance can be classified as motifs—whether they are images, spoken or written phrases, structural or stylistic devices, or other elements like sound, physical movement, or visual components in dramatic narratives. While it may appear interchangeable with the related concept, theme, a general rule is that a theme is abstract and a motif is concrete. A theme is usually defined as a message, statement, or idea, while a motif is simply a detail repeated for larger symbolic meaning.
In other words, a narrative motif—a detail repeated in a pattern of meaning—can produce a theme; but it can also create other narrative aspects. Nevertheless, the distinction between the two terms remains difficult to pinpoint. For instance, the term "thematic patterning" has been used to describe the way in which "recurrent thematic concepts" are patterned to produce meaning, such as the "moralistic motifs" found throughout the stories of One Thousand and One Nights.
See also
References
- James H. Grayson (2000). Myths and Legends from Korea: An Annotated Compendium of Ancient and Modern Materials. New York and Abingdon: Routledge Curzon. p. 9. ISBN 0-7007-1241-0.
- Silver, Alain; Ursini, James (1996). Film Noir Reader. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 65. ISBN 978-0-87910-197-8.
- "Kurt Vonnegut, Jr." Encyclopedia of World Biography. Thomson Gale. 2004. HighBeam Research. 26 August 2010
- Carlo (2000). "Blade Runner 1982". AboutFilm.com. Archived from the original on 2000-11-20.
- Bukatman, pp. 9–11.
- "WordNet 3.0". Princeton University. 2006. Archived from the original on 2020-09-25. Retrieved 2010-08-26.
- Abbott, H. Porter (2008). The Cambridge Introduction to Narrative. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 95. ISBN 978-0-521-88719-9.
- Heath, Peter (May 1994), "Reviewed work(s) Story-Telling Techniques in the Arabian Nights by David Pinault", International Journal of Middle East Studies, 26 (2), Cambridge University Press: 358–360 , doi:10.1017/s0020743800060633, S2CID 162223060
External links
The dictionary definition of motif at Wiktionary
