Theme (narrative)

Central topic, subject, or message within a narrative

In contemporary literary studies, a theme is a main topic, subject, or message within a narrative.[1] 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).[2][3] 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.[4][example needed]

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.[5] 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.[6] 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".[7]

## Examples

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Some common themes in literature are love, war, revenge, betrayal,[8] grace, isolation, parenthood, forgiveness, loss,[9] treachery, rich versus poor, appearance versus reality, and help from otherworldly powers.[10]

## Techniques

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Various techniques may be used to express literary themes.

### Leitwortstil

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Leitwortstil, which means "leading word style" in German,[11] is the repetition of a wording, often with a theme, in a narrative to make sure it catches the reader's attention.[12] 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.[11] In the Bible, various forms of the verb "to see" also recur and underscore the idea of Abraham as a seer.[13] There is also the repeated use of the root kbd in Samuel I, to indicate "weightiness, honor, glory".[14]

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.[15] 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?]

### Thematic patterning

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Thematic patterning means the insertion of a recurring motif in a narrative.[16] For example, various scenes in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men are about loneliness.[17] Thematic patterning is evident in One Thousand and One Nights,[18] 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".[19] 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".[19]

## See also

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Look up theme in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

* Literary element
* Moral
* Motif (narrative)

## Notes

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1. ^ Oxford English Dictionary, retrieved January 26, 2012
2. ^ Carey & Snodgrass (1999)
3. ^ Kirszner, Laura G.; Mandell, Stephen R. (1994), Fiction: Reading, Reacting, Writing, Paulinas, pp. 3–4, ISBN 015501014X, retrieved February 11, 2013
4. ^ Weitz, Morris (2002), "Literature Without Philosophy: "Antony and Cleopatra"", Shakespeare Survey, vol. 28, Cambridge University Press, p. 30, ISBN 0521523656, retrieved February 10, 2013
5. ^ Kerr, John (2022-07-06). "The 3 Essential Elements of Plot Every Writer Should Know". Writer's Hive Media. Retrieved 2022-07-06.
6. ^ Obstfeld (2002, pp. 1, 65, 115, 171)
7. ^ Griffith, Kelley (2010), Writing Essays about Literature (8 ed.), Cengage Learning, p. 40, ISBN 978-1428290419, retrieved February 10, 2013
8. ^ Baldick (2004)
9. ^ Carey & Snodgrass (1999)
10. ^ Brown & Rosenberg (1998)
11. ^ a b Sweney, Chip; Murray, Kitti (2011). A New Kind of Big: How Churches of Any Size Can Partner to Transform Communities. Grand Rapids: Baker Books. p. 82\. ISBN 9780801013690.
12. ^ Pinault, David (1992), Story Telling Techniques in the "Arabian Nights", Studies in Arabic Literature, vol. 15, Brill, p. 18, ISBN 9004095306, retrieved February 10, 2013
13. ^ Levenson, Alan T. (2011). The Making of the Modern Jewish Bible: How Scholars in Germany, Israel, and America Transformed an Ancient Text. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. p. 85\. ISBN 9781442205161.
14. ^ Ryken, Leland; III, Tremper Longman (2010). The Complete Literary Guide to the Bible. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Academic. p. 171\. ISBN 978-0310230786.
15. ^ 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.
16. ^ Pinault, David. 1992. Story-telling techniques in the Arabian nights. Leiden: Brill. p. 22. ISBN 9004095306
17. ^ Scalia, Joseph E.; Shamblin, Lena T. & Research and Education Association (2001), John Steinbeck's Of mice and men, Piscataway, N.J: Research & Education Association, p. 13, ISBN 087891997X, retrieved February 11, 2013
18. ^ 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 [359–60], doi:10.1017/s0020743800060633, S2CID 162223060
19. ^ a b Pinault, David. 1992. Story-telling techniques in the Arabian nights. Leiden: Brill. p. 23. ISBN 9004095306

## References

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* Baldick, Chris (2004), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms, Oxford: Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-860883-7
* Brown, Mary Ellen; Rosenberg, Bruce A., eds. (1998), Encyclopedia of Folklore and Literature, Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, ISBN 1-57607-003-4
* Carey, Gary; Snodgrass, Mary Ellen (1999), A Multicultural Dictionary of Literary Terms, Jefferson: McFarland & Company, ISBN 0-7864-0552-X
* Obstfeld, Raymond (2002), Fiction First Aid: Instant Remedies for Novels, Stories and Scripts, Cincinnati, OH: Writer's Digest Books, ISBN 1-58297-117-X

## Further reading

[edit]

* Kerr, John (2022-07-06). "The 3 Essential Elements of Plot Every Writer Should Know". Writer's Hive Media. Retrieved 2022-07-06.
* Kittelstad, Kit. "Examples of Theme in Literature". Yourdictionary.com. Retrieved 2022-07-06.

## External links

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* "The Literary Theme Ontology". Retrieved 2023-04-05.

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