Theme (narrative)

{{short description|Central topic, subject, or message within a narrative}} In contemporary literary studies, a '''theme''' is a main topic, subject, or message within a narrative.<ref>{{Citation | url = http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/200321?rskey=8toWeL&result=1&isAdvanced=false#eid | title = Oxford English Dictionary | access-date = January 26, 2012 }}</ref> Themes are ideas that are central to a story, which can often be summed in a single abstract noun (for example, love, death, betrayal, nostalgia, or parenthood) or noun phrase (for example, coming of age, humans in conflict with technology, seeking spirituality in the modern era, or the dangers of unchecked ambition).<ref>{{harvtxt|Carey|Snodgrass|1999}}</ref><ref>{{Citation| last1 = Kirszner| first1 = Laura G. | last2 =Mandell| first2 =Stephen R.| title = Fiction: Reading, Reacting, Writing| publisher =Paulinas| year =1994| pages =3–4| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=VzojstMHtY0C&pg=PA3| isbn =015501014X | access-date=February 11, 2013}}</ref> A theme may be exemplified by the actions, utterances, or thoughts of characters, as in the theme of loneliness in John Steinbeck's ''Of Mice and Men'', wherein many of the characters seem isolated and long for community with others. It may or may not differ from the thesis—the text's or author's implied worldview.<ref>{{Citation| last = Weitz| first = Morris| title = Shakespeare Survey| publisher =Cambridge University Press| volume = 28| year = 2002| chapter = Literature Without Philosophy: "Antony and Cleopatra"| page =30| chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=-CdmtQURHc8C&pg=PA30| isbn =0521523656| access-date= February 10, 2013 }}</ref>{{example needed |date=March 2013}}

A story may have several themes and generally longer works, such as novels, plays, films, or television series, do. Themes often explore historically common or cross-culturally recognizable ideas, such as ethical questions, and are usually implied rather than stated explicitly.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kerr |first=John |date=2022-07-06 |title=The 3 Essential Elements of Plot Every Writer Should Know |url=https://writershivemedia.com/creative-writing/essential-elements-of-plot/ |access-date=2022-07-06 |website=Writer's Hive Media |language=en-US}}</ref> An example of this would be whether one should live a seemingly better life, at the price of giving up parts of one's humanity, which is a theme in Aldous Huxley's ''Brave New World''. Along with plot, character, setting, and style, theme is considered one of the components of fiction.<ref>{{harvtxt|Obstfeld|2002|pp=1,65,115,171}}</ref> Themes can be divided into two categories: a work's ''thematic concept'' is what readers "think the work is about" and its ''thematic statement'' being "what the work says about the subject".<ref>{{Citation | last = Griffith| first = Kelley| title = Writing Essays about Literature| publisher = Cengage Learning| year = 2010| edition = 8| page =40| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=a05Efo1hOa4C&pg=PA40| isbn =978-1428290419| access-date= February 10, 2013}}</ref>

==Examples== Some common themes in literature are love, war, revenge, betrayal,<ref>{{harvtxt|Baldick|2004}}</ref> grace, isolation, parenthood, forgiveness, loss,<ref>{{harvtxt|Carey|Snodgrass|1999}}</ref> treachery, rich versus poor, appearance versus reality, and help from otherworldly powers.<ref>{{harvtxt|Brown|Rosenberg|1998}}</ref>

==Techniques== Various techniques may be used to express literary themes.

===Leitwortstil=== ''Leitwortstil,'' which means "leading word style" in German,<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=A New Kind of Big: How Churches of Any Size Can Partner to Transform Communities|last1=Sweney|first1=Chip|last2=Murray|first2=Kitti|date=2011|publisher=Baker Books|isbn=9780801013690|location=Grand Rapids|pages=82}}</ref> is the repetition of a wording, often with a theme, in a narrative to make sure it catches the reader's attention.<ref>{{Citation| last= Pinault| first= David| title= Story Telling Techniques in the "Arabian Nights"| publisher= Brill| series= Studies in Arabic Literature| volume= 15| year= 1992| page= 18| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=guHmLGJMbg4C&pg=PA18 | isbn= 9004095306 | access-date= February 10, 2013 }}</ref> An example of a leitwortstil is the recurring phrase, "So it goes", in Kurt Vonnegut's novel ''Slaughterhouse-Five''. Its seeming message is that the world is deterministic: that things only could have happened in one way, and that the future already is predetermined. But given the anti-war tone of the story, the message perhaps is on the contrary, that ''things could have been different''. Its use in Scheherazade's ''Arabian Nights'' demonstrates how the technique can result to the unification of the constituent members of story cycles.<ref name=":0" /> In the Bible, various forms of the verb "to see" also recur and underscore the idea of Abraham as a seer.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Making of the Modern Jewish Bible: How Scholars in Germany, Israel, and America Transformed an Ancient Text|last=Levenson|first=Alan T.|date=2011|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.|isbn=9781442205161|location=Lanham, MD|pages=85}}</ref> There is also the repeated use of the root ''kbd'' in Samuel I, to indicate "weightiness, honor, glory".<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Complete Literary Guide to the Bible|last1=Ryken|first1=Leland|last2=III|first2=Tremper Longman|date=2010|publisher=Zondervan Academic|isbn=978-0310230786|location=Grand Rapids|pages=171}}</ref>

In New Testament studies, a leitwortstil is called a verbal thread. David Rhoads, Joanna Dewey, and Donald Michie identify several verbal threads in their seminal narrative-critical study of the Gospel of Mark.<ref>David Rhoads, Joanna Dewey, and Donald Michie, ''Mark as Story: An Introduction to the Narrative of a Gospel'', 3rd ed. (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2012), 48.</ref> For example, Mark ties together two disparate narratives with a verbal thread that forces the reader to search for connections between the narratives. The word for ripping or tearing (Greek: σχίζω, ''schizō'') is found at the baptism of Jesus in Mark 1:10 and at the rending of the temple veil in Mark 15:38.{{original research inline|date=January 2021}}

===Thematic patterning=== ''Thematic patterning'' means the insertion of a recurring motif in a narrative.<ref>Pinault, David. 1992. ''Story-telling techniques in the Arabian nights''. Leiden: Brill. p. 22. {{ISBN|9004095306}}</ref> For example, various scenes in John Steinbeck's ''Of Mice and Men'' are about loneliness.<ref>{{Citation| last1 = Scalia| first1 = Joseph E.| last2 =Shamblin| first2 =Lena T. & Research and Education Association | title = John Steinbeck's Of mice and men| place =Piscataway, N.J | publisher =Research & Education Association | year =2001| page =13| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=96WfEbkKIKAC&pg=PA85| isbn =087891997X | access-date= February 11, 2013 }}</ref> Thematic patterning is evident in ''One Thousand and One Nights'',<ref name="Heath">{{citation|first=Peter|last=Heath|title=Reviewed work(s) ''Story-Telling Techniques in the Arabian Nights'' by David Pinault|journal=International Journal of Middle East Studies|volume=26|issue=2|date=May 1994|publisher=Cambridge University Press|pages=358–360 [359–60]|doi=10.1017/s0020743800060633|s2cid=162223060 }}</ref> an example being the story of "The City of Brass". According to David Pinault, the overarching theme of that tale, in which a group of travelers roam the desert in search of ancient brass artifacts, is that "riches and pomp tempt one away from God".<ref name="Pinault_23">Pinault, David. 1992. ''Story-telling techniques in the Arabian nights''. Leiden: Brill. p. 23. {{ISBN|9004095306}}</ref> The narrative is interrupted several times by stories within the story. These include a tale recorded in an inscription found in the palace of Kush ibh Shaddad; a story told by a prisoner about Solomon; and an episode involving Queen Tadmur's corpse. According to Pinault, "each of these minor narratives introduces a character who confesses that he once proudly enjoyed worldly prosperity: subsequently, we learn, the given character has been brought low by God ... These minor tales ultimately reinforce the theme of the major narrative".<ref name="Pinault_23"/>

==See also== {{Wiktionary|theme}} * Literary element * Moral * Motif (narrative)

==Notes== {{Reflist}}

==References== * {{ citation | last1 = Baldick | first1 = Chris | title = The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms | location = Oxford | publisher = Oxford University Press | year = 2004 | isbn = 978-0-19-860883-7 }} * {{citation | editor-first1 = Mary Ellen | editor-last1 = Brown | editor-first2 = Bruce A. | editor-last2 = Rosenberg | title = Encyclopedia of Folklore and Literature | location = Santa Barbara | publisher = ABC-CLIO | date = 1998 | isbn = 1-57607-003-4 | url = https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781576070031 }} * {{citation | last1 = Carey | first1 = Gary | last2 = Snodgrass | first2 = Mary Ellen | title = A Multicultural Dictionary of Literary Terms | location = Jefferson | publisher = McFarland & Company | year = 1999 | isbn = 0-7864-0552-X | url = https://archive.org/details/multiculturaldic00care }} * {{citation | title = Fiction First Aid: Instant Remedies for Novels, Stories and Scripts | first = Raymond | last = Obstfeld | publisher = Writer's Digest Books | location = Cincinnati, OH | year = 2002 | isbn = 1-58297-117-X | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/fictionfirstaidi0000obst }}

==Further reading== * Kerr, John (2022-07-06). "The 3 Essential Elements of Plot Every Writer Should Know". ''[https://writershivemedia.com/creative-writing/essential-elements-of-plot/ Writer's Hive Media]''. Retrieved 2022-07-06. * Kittelstad, Kit. "Examples of Theme in Literature". ''[https://examples.yourdictionary.com/reference/examples/examples-of-theme-in-literature.html Yourdictionary.com]''. Retrieved 2022-07-06.

==External links== * {{cite web |url=https://www.themeontology.org/ |title=The Literary Theme Ontology |access-date=2023-04-05}}

Category:Literary concepts Category:Narrative units Category:Theme