Motive is a term that entered the literature from musicology. It was first recorded in the “musical dictionary” of S. de Brossard in 1703. Analogies with music, where this term is key when analyzing the composition of a work, help to understand the properties of a motif in a literary work: its isolation from the whole and its repetition in a variety of situations.
In literary criticism, the concept of motive was used to characterize the components of a plot by Goethe and Schiller. They identified five types of motives: accelerating action, slowing down action, distancing action from the goal, facing the past, anticipating the future.
The concept of motive as the simplest narrative unit was first theoretically substantiated in the Poetics of Plots Veselovsky. He was interested in the repetition of motifs in different genres at different nations. Veselovsky considered motives to be the simplest formulas that could arise in different tribes independently of each other. (struggle for the inheritance of brothers, fight for the bride, etc.) he comes to the conclusion that creativity is primarily manifested in a combination of motives that gives one or a different plot (in a fairy tale there is not one task, but five, etc.)
Subsequently, combinations of motifs were transformed into various compositions and became the basis of such genres as novels, stories, and poems. The motive itself, according to Veselovsky, remained stable and indecomposable; combinations of motives make up the plot. The plot could be borrowed, passed from people to people, or become wandering. In the plot, each motive can be primary, secondary, or episodic. Many motifs can be developed into entire plots, and vice versa.
Veselovsky's position on the motive as an indecomposable unit of narrative was revised in the 20s. Propp: motives are decomposed, the last decomposable unit does not represent a logical whole. Propp calls the primary elements functions of the actors- actions of characters, defined in terms of their significance for the course of action.. seven types of characters, 31 functions (based on Afanasyev’s collection)
It is particularly difficult to identify motifs in the literature of recent centuries: their diversity and complex functional load.
In literature different eras there are many found and functioning mythological motives. Constantly updated within historical and literary context, they retain their essence (the motive of the hero’s conscious death because of a woman, apparently it can be considered as a transformation of the fight for the bride highlighted by Veselovsky (Lensky in Pushkin, Romashov in Kuprin)
A generally accepted indicator of a motive is its repeatability.
The leading motive in one or many works of a writer can be defined as leitmotif. It can be considered at the level of theme and figurative structure of the work. In Chekhov's Cherry Orchard, the motif of the garden as a symbol of Home, beauty and sustainability of life... we can talk about the role of both the leitmotif and the organization of the second, secret meaning of the work - subtext, undercurrent.. (phrase: “life is lost” - the leitmotif of Uncle Vanya. Chekhov)
Tomashevsky: Episodes are broken down into even smaller parts that describe individual actions, events, and things. Topics such small parts of a work that cannot be further divided are called motives.
IN lyrical In a work, a motif is a repeating complex of feelings and ideas expressed in artistic speech. Motifs in lyric poetry are more independent, because they are not subordinated to the development of action, as in epic and drama. Sometimes the poet’s work as a whole can be considered as an interaction, a correlation of motives. (In Lermontov: motives of freedom, will, memory, exile, etc.) One and the same motive can receive different symbolic meanings in lyrical works of different eras, emphasizing the closeness and originality of the poets (Pushkin’s road in Besy and Gogol’s in M.D., the homeland of Lermontov and Nekrasov, Yesenin’s and Blok’s Rus', etc.)
According to Tomashevsky, motives are divided
Free and bound motifs:
- - those that can be skipped (details, details they play an important role in the plot: they do not make the work schematic.)
- - those that cannot be omitted when retelling, because the cause-and-effect relationship is broken...they form the basis of the plot.
Dynamic and static motives:
1. changing the situation. The transition from happiness to unhappiness and vice versa.
Peripeteia (Aristotle: “the transformation of an action into its opposite”) is one of the essential elements of complicating the plot, denoting any unexpected turn in the development of the plot.
2. not changing the situation (descriptions of the interior, nature, portrait, actions and deeds that do not lead to important changes)
Free motives can be static, but not every static motive is free.
I don’t know which book this is from Tomashevsky, because in “Theory of Literature. Poetics." He writes:
Motivation. The system of motives that make up the theme of this work, should represent some artistic unity. If all parts of a work are poorly fitted to one another, the work “falls apart.” Therefore, the introduction of each individual motive or each set of motives must be justified (motivated). The appearance of one or another motive should seem necessary to the reader in a given place. The system of techniques that justify the introduction of individual motives and their complexes is called motivation. Motivation methods are varied, and their nature is not uniform. Therefore, it is necessary to classify motivations.
1. compositional motivation.
Its principle lies in economy and expediency of motives. Individual motifs can characterize objects introduced into the reader’s field of vision (accessories) or the actions of characters (“episodes”). Not a single accessory should remain unused in the plot, not a single episode should remain without influence on the plot situation. It was about compositional motivation that Chekhov spoke when he argued that if at the beginning of the story it is said that a nail is driven into the wall, then at the end of the story the hero should hang himself on this nail. (Ostrovsky’s “Dowry” using the example of a weapon. “There is a carpet above the sofa on which weapons are hung.” At first this is introduced as a detail of the situation. In the sixth scene, attention is drawn to this detail in the remarks. At the end of the action, Karandyshev, running away, grabs a pistol from the table In the 4th act he shoots at Larisa with this pistol. The introduction of the weapon motif here is compositionally motivated. It serves as a preparation. last moment drama.) The second case of compositional motivation is the introduction of motives as characterization techniques. The motives must be in harmony with the dynamics of the plot. (Thus, in the same “Dowry” the motif of “Burgundy”, made by a counterfeit wine merchant at a cheap price, characterizes the wretchedness of Karandyshev’s everyday environment and prepares for Larisa’s departure). These characteristic details can be in harmony with the action: 1) by psychological analogy ( romantic landscape: moonlit night for a love scene, storm and thunderstorm for a scene of death or crime), 2) by contrast (the motif of “indifferent” nature, etc.). In the same "Dowry", when Larisa dies, the singing of a gypsy choir can be heard from the restaurant doors. One must also take into account the possibility false motivation. Accessories and incidents may be introduced to distract the reader's attention from the true situation. This very often appears in detective stories, where a number of details are given that lead the reader down the wrong path. The author makes us assume the outcome is not what it actually is. The deception is unraveled at the end, and the reader is convinced that all these details were introduced only to prepare surprises at the denouement.
2. realistic motivation
From each work we demand an elementary “illusion”, i.e. no matter how conventional and artificial the work may be, its perception must be accompanied by a sense of the reality of what is happening. For a naive reader, this feeling is extremely strong, and such a reader can believe in the authenticity of what is being presented, can be convinced of the real existence of the heroes. Thus, Pushkin, having just published “The History of the Pugachev Rebellion,” publishes “The Captain’s Daughter” in the form of Grinev’s memoirs with the following afterword: “Peter Andreevich Grinev’s manuscript was delivered to us from one of his grandchildren, who learned that we were busy with work related to to the time described by his grandfather. We decided, with the permission of his relatives, to publish it separately." An illusion of the reality of Grinev and his memoirs is created, especially supported by moments of Pushkin’s personal biography known to the public (his historical studies on the history of Pugachev), and the illusion is also supported by the fact that the views and beliefs expressed by Grinev largely diverge from the views expressed by Pushkin on his own. The realistic illusion is expressed by the more experienced reader as a demand for "lifeliness." Firmly knowing the fictional nature of the work, the reader still demands some correspondence with reality and in this correspondence sees the value of the work. Even readers well versed in the laws artistic construction, cannot psychologically free themselves from this illusion. In this regard, each motive must be introduced as a motive likely in this situation. We do not notice, getting used to the technique of an adventure novel, the absurdity that the hero’s salvation always occurs five minutes before his inevitable death, the audience of the ancient comedy did not notice the absurdity that in the last act all the characters suddenly turned out to be close relatives. However, how tenacious this motive is in drama is shown by Ostrovsky’s play “Guilty Without Guilt,” where at the end of the play the heroine recognizes her own in the hero. lost son). This motive of recognizing kinship was extremely convenient for the denouement (kinship reconciled interests, radically changing the situation) and therefore became firmly entrenched in tradition.
So, realistic motivation has its source either in naive trust or in the demand for illusion. This doesn't stop you from developing. fantastic literature. If folk tales and usually arise in a popular environment that allows for the real existence of witches and brownies, they continue to exist as some kind of conscious illusion, where a mythological system or a fantastic worldview (the assumption of really unjustifiable “possibilities”) is present as some kind of illusory hypothesis.
It is curious that fantastic narratives in a developed literary environment, under the influence of the requirements of realistic motivation, usually give double interpretation plot: it can be understood both as a real event and as a fantastic one. From the point of view of the realistic motivation for constructing the work, it is easy to understand the introduction to the work of art extraliterary material, i.e. topics that have real meaning beyond the realm of fiction. Thus, in historical novels, historical figures are brought onto the stage and one or another interpretation is introduced historical events. See in the novel “War and Peace” by L. Tolstoy a whole military-strategic report on the Battle of Borodino and the fire of Moscow, which caused controversy in the specialized literature. IN modern works everyday life familiar to the reader is presented, questions of moral, social, political, etc. are raised. order, in a word, themes are introduced that live their own lives outside of fiction.
3. artistic motivation
The introduction of motives is the result of a compromise between realistic illusion and the requirements of artistic construction. Not everything borrowed from reality is suitable for a work of art.
On the basis of artistic motivation, disputes usually arise between old and new literary schools. The old, traditional direction usually denies the new literary forms presence of artistry. This is, for example, reflected in poetic vocabulary, where the very use of individual words must be in harmony with solid literary traditions (the source of “prosaisms” - words prohibited in poetry). As a special case of artistic motivation, there is a technique defamiliarization. The introduction of non-literary material into a work, so that it does not fall out of the work of art, must be justified by novelty and individuality in the coverage of the material. We must talk about the old and familiar as new and unusual. The ordinary is spoken of as strange. These methods of defamiliarization of ordinary things are usually themselves motivated by the refraction of these themes in the psychology of the hero, who is unfamiliar with them. L. Tolstoy’s technique of defamiliarization is known when, describing the military council in Fili in “War and Peace,” he introduces as a character a peasant girl who observes this council and in her own, childish way, without understanding the essence of what is happening, interprets all actions and speeches of council members.
V.V. Prozorov “Essays on Life” in literature."
The plot is the entire living and multi-colored fabric of the text that we perceive.
Fabula (optional feature) – patterns and designs on this fabric in relief.
Motifs are threads that make up the fabric of the text, specially colored and skillfully woven, paired with each other.
The plot and plot are more attested to by poetic textual reality. The motif as a unit of plot-plot data, capable of being correctly isolated from it, remains entirely within the limits of the literary text and at the same time, to a large extent, retains a visibly and sonorously designated memory of the theme of the text, of its intertextual relations and connections, of extra-textual reality , about the world outside the text and behind the text.
At the same time, the plot-fable scheme primarily characterizes the world of the text from the position of extra-textual existence. The motive represents, first of all, the textual reality itself, in which it is organically written.
Motif is an invariable component of a verbal and artistic plot, but the component is by no means the simplest, not elementary, from the point of view of the plot itself; This is not the theme of an indivisible part of the work (B.V. Tomashevsky) or “an indivisible component of intrigue” in the drama.
Motifs in the plot can be productive and derivative, collapsed and widespread, dynamic and static, relatively free and absolutely conditioned. In their complex totality, in their interweaving, they form a verbal and artistic plot.
These are “microplots” (E.M. Meletinsky), “scurrying around” in a whole, independently existing plot.
The motive, even in its artificial analytical isolation from the artistic organism, stubbornly and polysemantically reveals the entire text, keeping its secret, hinting at its poetic pathos and helping to carry out the necessary typological comparisons and other methodological operations in literary criticism. Motif is one of the most reliable means of endless philological examination and discernment of plot.
Motive is a certain (in narratively extended plots) developing constancy, relative repetition of movements and gestures, often objectively (objectively) expressed: in the characters and actions of the heroes, in lyrical experiences, in dramatic actions and situations, in symbolically designated, multi-scale artistic details etc.
Of course, the motive can be recreated in all its autonomous completeness only in the process of research, literary criticism, staging and interpretation, directorial (performances and films “based on ...”), and more or less sophisticated reader analysis.
The more concise (in accordance with genre characteristics) and the more aphoristic the text, the more exhaustive the chain of motives found in it may be.
It is also obvious that any description of the inflorescence of motifs that seems to be the most exhaustive does not, of course, provide knowledge about the plot whole, capable of expressing an infinite multiplicity of counter-feelings. The sum or chain of motives is not a plot, but for recognizing the plot, the analysis of motives is one of the most effective philological procedures.
Complex of motives and types of plot schemes.
Compiled by N. D. Tamarchenko
Motive
1) Sierotwiński S.Słownik terminów literackich. S. 161.
“ Motive.The theme is one of the smallest meaningful wholes that stands out when analyzing a work.”
“ The motive is dynamic.The motive that accompanies a change in a situation (part of an action) is the opposite of a static motive.”
“ The motive is free.A motive that is not included in the system of cause-and-effect plot is the opposite of a connected motive.”
2) Wilpert G. von.Sachwörterbuch der Literatur.
“
Motive(lat .
motivus -motivating),<...>3. content-structural unity as a typical, meaningful situation that embraces general thematic ideas (as opposed to something defined and framed through specific featuresmaterial
3) Mö lk U.Motiv, Stoff, Thema // Das Fischer Lexicon. Literatur. B.2.“The name that the interpreter gives to the motif he identifies influences his work, no matter whether he wants to compile an inventory of the motifs of a particular corpus of texts or plans an analytical study of the motifs of a particular text, a comparative or historical study of them. Sometimes the formula motifs common in a certain era hide the fact that they bring together completely different phenomena: “ange-femme“ (female angel) designates, for example, in French romance both a beloved stylized as an angel and a female angel; Only if both phenomena are recognized as two different motives do they obtain the prerequisite for further understanding. How significant consequences a proper name can have in identifying a motif is shown by the example of the question whether it is better to speak of “a woman and a parrot” or “a woman and a bird” in relation to Flaubert’s “Simple Heart”; here only a broader designation opens the interpreter’s eyes to certain meanings and their variants, but not a narrower one” (S. 1328).
4) Barnet S., Berman M., Burto W.Dictionary of Literary, Dramatic and Cinematic Terms. Boston, 1971.“ Motive- 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 a poor man getting rich quickly. However, a motive (meaning “leitmotif” from the German “leading motive”) can arise within separate work: it can be any repetition that contributes to the integrity of the work by recalling a previous mention of a given element and everything associated with it” (p. 71).
5) Dictionary of World Literary Terms / By J. Shipley.
“ Motive. A word or thought pattern that is repeated in the same situations or to evoke a certain mood within the same work, or in various works one genre” (p. 204).
6) The Longman Dictionary of Poetic Terms / By J. Myers, M. Simms.
“ Motive(from Latin “to move”; can also be written as “topos”) - a theme, image, or character that develops through various nuances and repetitions” (p. 198).
7) Dictionary of Literary Terms / By H. Shaw.
“ Leitmotif. German term literally meaning "leading motive". It denotes a theme or motif associated in a musical drama with a specific situation, character or idea. The term is often used to designate a central impression, a central image, or a recurring theme in a work of fiction, such as the “practicalism” of Franklin’s Autobiography or the “revolutionary spirit” of Thomas Pine” (pp. 218-219).
8) Blagoy D.Motive // Dictionary literary terms. T. 1. Stlb. 466 - 467.
“ M.(from moveo - I move, set in motion), in in a broad sense this word is the main psychological or figurative grain that underlies every work of art.” “... the main motive coincides with the theme. So, for example, the theme of Leo Tolstoy’s “War and Peace” is the motif of historical fate, which does not interfere with the parallel development in the novel of a number of other, often only distantly related to the theme, secondary motives (for example, the motif of the truth of collective consciousness - Pierre and Karataev. ..)". “The entire set of motifs that make up a given work of art forms what is calledplot his".
9) Zakharkin A.Motive // Dictionary of literary terms. P.226-227.
“ M. (from the French motif - melody, tune) - an out-of-use term denoting the minimum significant component of the narrative, the simplest component of the plot of a work of art.”
10) Chudakov A.P.Motive. KLE. T. 4. Stlb. 995.
“ M. (French motif, from Latin motivus - movable) - the simplest meaningful (semantic) unit of art. text inmyth And fairy tale; basis, based on the development of one of the members of M. (a+b turns into a+b1+b2+b3) or several combinations. motives growplot (plot), which represents a greater level of generalization.” “As applied to art. literature of modern times M. is most often called schematic, abstract from specific details and expressed in the simplest verbal formula. presentation of the elements of the content of the work involved in the creation of the plot (plot). The content of M. itself, for example, the death of a hero or a walk, buying a pistol or buying a pencil, does not indicate its significance. The scale of M. depends on its role in the plot (main and secondary M.). Basic M. are relatively stable (love triangle, betrayal - revenge), but we can talk about the similarity or borrowing of M. only at the plot level - when the combination of many minor M. and the methods of their development coincide.”
11) Nezvankina L.K., Shchemeleva L.M.Motive // LES. P. 230:
“ M. (German Motive, French motif, from Latin moveo - I move), stable formal-contain. component lit. text; M. can be distinguished 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.”
“A more strict meaning of the term “M.” receives when it contains elements of symbolization (road by N.V. Gogol, garden by Chekhov, desert by M.Yu. Lermontov<...>). The motive, therefore, unlike the theme, has a direct verbal (and objective) 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). In the lyrics<...>M.'s circle is most clearly expressed and defined, so the study of M. in poetry can be especially fruitful.
For storytelling. and dramatic works that are more action-packed are characterized by plot melodrama; many of them have historical universality and repeatability: recognition and insight, testing and retribution (punishment).”
Every poem is a veil stretched out
on the edge of a few words. These words glow
like stars. Because of them the work exists.
The term “motive” is quite ambiguous, because it is used in many disciplines - psychology, linguistics, etc.
This article will discuss the MOTIF OF A LITERARY WORK
MOTIVE - (from Latin moveo - I move) is a repeating component literary work, with increased significance.
Motif is a key term when analyzing the composition of a work.
The properties of a motif are its isolation from the whole and its repeatability in a variety of variations.
For example, biblical motifs.
Bulgakov. The Master and Margarita.
Bulgakov's novel is largely based on a reinterpretation of evangelical and biblical ideas and plots. The central motifs of the novel are the motifs of freedom and death, suffering and forgiveness, execution and mercy. Bulgakov's interpretation of these motifs is very far from the traditional biblical ones.
Thus, the hero of the novel, Yeshua, does not in any way declare his messianic destiny, while biblical jesus says, for example, in a conversation with the Pharisees, that he is not just the Messiah, but also the Son of God: “I and the Father are one.”
Jesus had disciples. Only one Levi, Matthew, followed Yeshua. According to the Gospel, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, accompanied by his disciples. In the novel, Pilate asks Yeshua whether it is true that he rode into the city through the Susa Gate on a donkey, and he replies that he “doesn’t even have a donkey.” He came to Yershalaim exactly through the Susa Gate, but on foot, accompanied by only Levi Matvey, and no one shouted anything to him, since no one knew him in Yershalaim then” (c)
The quotation can be continued, but I think it is already clear: biblical motifs in the image of the hero have undergone a serious refraction. Bulgakov's Yeshua is not a god-man, but simply a man, at times weak, even pathetic, extremely lonely, but great in his spirit and all-conquering kindness. He does not preach all Christian dogmas, but only ideas of good that are significant for Christianity, but do not constitute the entire Christian teaching.
Another main motive is also rethought - the motive of the Antichrist. If in the biblical interpretation Satan is the personification of evil, then in Bulgakov he is part of that force “that always wants evil and always does good.”
Why did Bulgakov so radically overturn traditional ideas? Apparently, in order to emphasize the author’s understanding of eternal philosophical questions: what is the meaning of life? Why does man exist?
We see a completely different interpretation of the same biblical motifs in Dostoevsky.
Hard labor changed Dostoevsky radically - a revolutionary and atheist turned into a deeply religious person. (“... Then fate helped me, penal servitude saved me... I became a completely new person... I understood myself there... I understood Christ..." (c)
Accordingly, after hard labor and exile, the religious topic becomes central theme creativity of Dostoevsky.
That is why after “Crime and Punishment” the novel “The Idiot” had to appear, after the rebel Raskolnikov, who preached “the permission of blood,” - the ideal “Prince Christ” - Lev Nikolaevich Myshkin, preaching love for one’s neighbor with every step of his life.
Prince Myshkin is truth caught in a world of lies; their collision and tragic struggle are inevitable and predetermined. In the words of General Epanchina, “They don’t believe in God, they don’t believe in Christ!” the writer’s cherished idea is expressed: the moral crisis experienced by contemporary humanity is a religious crisis.
In the novel The Brothers Karamazov, Dostoevsky connects the disintegration of Russia and the growth of the revolutionary movement with unbelief and atheism. Moral idea novel, the struggle between faith and unbelief (“the devil fights with God, and the battlefield is the hearts of people,” says Dmitry Karamazov) goes beyond the Karamazov family. Ivan's denial of God gives rise to the sinister figure of the Inquisitor. “The Legend of the Grand Inquisitor” is Dostoevsky’s greatest creation. Its meaning is that Christ loves everyone, including those who do not love him. He came to save sinners. The kiss of Christ is a call of the highest love, the last call of sinners to repentance.
Another example is Block. Twelve.
The work contains the image of Christ - but which one? The one who leads the twelve apostles of the new faith or the one whom the new apostles lead to execution?
There may be several interpretations, but “This was not the biblical Christ, not the real Christ. Let any of you turn to the Gospel and think, is it possible to imagine Jesus of Nazareth wearing a “white crown of roses”? No no. It's a shadow, a ghost. This is a parody. This is the split consciousness that misled our fathers.
Blok wrote that he walked along the dark streets of Petrograd and saw snowstorm whirlwinds swirling and he saw that figure there. It was not Christ, but it seemed to him that it was so good, so wonderful. But it wasn't good. It was a tragedy. Blok realized this, unfortunately, too late. This means that Christ was not there. There wasn't. What is the answer? Blok, as a prophet, felt people’s faith that the world could be redrawn in a bloody way and that this would be for the good. In this regard, his Christ is a pseudo-Christ. The “white crown” contains an unconscious insight - this is an image of a pseudo-Christ. And when he turned around, it turned out that it was the Antichrist" (c)
Despite the inexhaustibility of examples of the use of biblical motifs, I will allow myself to limit myself to only these examples.
I think the main thing is clear – I’m talking about motive as a compositional category.
MOTIVE is a certain starting point for creativity, a set of ideas and feelings of the author, an expression of his worldview.
A motif is a component of a work that has increased significance.
“...Any phenomenon, any semantic “spot” - an event, character trait, landscape element, any object, spoken word, paint, sound, etc. can act as a motif in a work; the only thing that determines the motive is its reproduction in the text, so in contrast to the traditional plot narrative, where it is more or less determined in advance what can be considered discrete components (“characters” or “events”) (c) B. Gasparov.
So, throughout Chekhov’s play “ Cherry Orchard"The motif of the cherry orchard is used as a symbol of Home, Beauty, and Sustainability of life. (“It’s already May, the cherry trees are blooming, but it’s cold in the garden, it’s a matinee” - “Look, the late mother is walking through the garden... in a white dress!” - “Come everyone to watch Ermolai Lopakhin swing an ax at the cherry orchard and how they will fall to the ground trees!").
In Bulgakov's play "Days of the Turbins" the same motifs are embodied in the image of cream curtains. (“But, despite all these events, in the dining room, in essence, it’s wonderful. It’s hot, cozy, the cream curtains are drawn” - “... cream curtains... behind them you rest your soul... you forget about all the horrors of the civil war”)
The motif is in close contact and intersects with repetitions and their similarities, but is not identical to them.
The motif is present in the work in the most different forms- a separate word or phrase, repeated and varied, or appear in the form of a title or epigraph, or remain only guessable, lost in the subtext.
There are main (=leading) and secondary motives.
LEADING MOTIVE, or
LEITMOTHIO - the prevailing mood, main topic, the main ideological and emotional tone of a literary work, a writer’s work, a literary movement; a specific image or turn of artistic speech, persistently repeated in a work as a constant characteristic of a character, experience or situation.
In the process of repetition or variation, the leitmotif evokes certain associations, acquiring special ideological, symbolic and psychological depths.
The leading motive organizes the second, secret meaning of the work, that is, the subtext.
For example, the theme of the story by F.M. Dostoevsky's "Double" is the split personality of the poor official Golyadkin, who is trying to establish himself in a society that has rejected him with the help of his confident and arrogant "double". As the main theme unfolds, motives of loneliness, restlessness, hopeless love, and the “discrepancy” of the hero with the surrounding life arise. The leitmotif of the entire story can be considered the motif of the hero’s fatal doom, despite his desperate resistance to circumstances. (With)
Any work, especially three-dimensional, is formed by the accretion of very large number individual motives. In this case, the main motive coincides with the theme.
Thus, the theme of Leo Tolstoy’s “War and Peace” is the motif of historical fate, which does not interfere with the parallel development in the novel of a number of other secondary motives, often only remotely related to the theme.
For example,
motive of truth of collective consciousness - Pierre and Karataev;
everyday motive - the ruin of the wealthy noble family of the Counts of Rostov;
numerous love motives: Nikolai Rostov and Sophie, he is also Princess Maria, Pierre Bezukhov and Ellen, Prince. Andrey and Natasha, etc.;
the mystical and so characteristic motif of Tolstoy's subsequent work of death - the dying epiphanies of the book. Andrei Bolkonsky, etc.
VARIETY OF MOTIVES
In the literature of different eras, many MYTHOLOGICAL MOTIVES are found and effectively function. Constantly being updated in different historical and literary contexts, they at the same time retain their semantic essence.
For example, the motive of the hero’s deliberate death because of a woman.
Werther's suicide in Goethe's novel The Sorrows of Young Werther,
the death of Vladimir Lensky in Pushkin’s novel “Eugene Onegin”,
death of Romashov in Kuprin's novel "The Duel".
Apparently, this motif can be considered as a transformation of the ancient mythological motif: “the fight for the bride.”
The motif of the hero’s alienation to the world around him is very popular.
This could be the motive of exile (Lermontov. Mtsyri) or the motive of the hero’s foreignness to the vulgarity and mediocrity of the world around him (Chekhov. A Boring Story).
By the way, the motif of the hero’s foreignness is the central one that links all seven books about Harry Potter together.
The same motif can receive different symbolic meanings.
For example, the motive of the road.
Compare:
Gogol. Dead souls- the notorious bird-three
Pushkin. Demons
Yesenin. Rus
Bulgakov. The Master and Margarita.
In all these works there is a road motif, but how differently it is presented.
Motives are identified that have very ancient origins, leading to primitive consciousness and, at the same time, developed in the conditions of high civilization in different countries. These are the motives prodigal son, a proud king, a pact with the devil, etc. You can easily remember the examples yourself.
And here is an interesting point. If you analyze your creativity, go through your things, then determine which motive is most interesting for you. In other words, what question of existence do you intend to solve with your creativity?
A question to ponder, however.
MOTIVE AND THEME
B.V. Tomashevsky wrote: “The theme must be divided into parts, “decomposed” into the smallest narrative units, in order to then string these units onto a narrative core.” This is how the plot develops, i.e. “an artistically constructed distribution of events in the work. Episodes are broken down into even smaller parts that describe individual actions, events, or things. The themes of such small parts of a work that can no longer be divided are called motives.”
MOTIVE AND PLOT
The concept of motive as the simplest narrative unit was first theoretically substantiated by the Russian philologist A.N. Veselovsky in “The Poetics of Plots”, 1913.
Veselovsky understands a motif as the building block that makes up the plot, and considered motifs to be the simplest formulas that could arise among different tribes independently of each other.
According to Veselovsky, each poetic era works on “bequeathed from time immemorial” poetic images", creating their new combinations and filling them with a "new understanding of life." As examples of such motives, the researcher cites the kidnapping of the bride, “representation of the sun through the eye,” the struggle of brothers for an inheritance, etc.
Creativity, according to Veselovsky, was manifested primarily in a “combination of motives” that gives one or another individual plot.
To analyze the motive, the scientist used the formula: a + b. For example, “the evil old woman does not like the beauty - and sets her a life-threatening task. Each part of the formula can be modified, especially subject to increment b.”
Thus, the pursuit of the old woman is expressed in the tasks that she asks the beauty. There may be two, three or more of these tasks. Therefore, the formula a + b can become more complicated: a + b + b1 + b2.
Subsequently, combinations of motifs were transformed into numerous compositions and became the basis of such narrative genres as stories, novels, and poems.
The motive itself, according to Veselovsky, remained stable and indecomposable; various combinations motives make up the plot.
Unlike the motive, the plot could be borrowed, move from people to people, and become “wandering.”
In the plot, each motive plays a certain role: it can be main, secondary, episodic.
Often the development of the same motif is repeated in different plots. Many traditional motifs can be developed into entire plots, and traditional plots, on the contrary, are “collapsed” into one motif.
Veselovsky noted the tendency of great poets, with the help of a “brilliant poetic instinct,” to use plots and motifs that have already been subjected to poetic treatment. “They are somewhere in the deep dark region of our consciousness, like much that has been tested and experienced, apparently forgotten and suddenly striking us, like an incomprehensible revelation, like novelty and at the same time antiquity, which we do not give ourselves an account of, because we are often unable to determine the essence of that mental act that unexpectedly renewed old memories in us.” (With)
Veselovsky's position on the motive as an indecomposable and stable unit of narrative was revised in the 1920s.
“Veselovsky’s specific interpretation of the term “motive” can no longer be applied at present,” wrote V. Propp. - According to Veselovsky, a motive is an indecomposable unit of narrative.<…>However, the motives that he cites as examples are unraveling.”
Propp demonstrates the decomposition of the “serpent kidnaps the king’s daughter” motif.
“This motive is decomposed into 4 elements, each of which can be varied individually. The snake can be replaced by Koshchei, whirlwind, devil, falcon, sorcerer. Abduction can be replaced by vampirism and various actions by which disappearance is achieved in the fairy tale. A daughter can be replaced by a sister, fiancee, wife, mother. The king can be replaced by a king's son, a peasant, or a priest.
Thus, contrary to Veselovsky, we must assert that the motive is not single-membered, not indecomposable. The last decomposable unit as such does not represent a logical whole (and according to Veselovsky, the motive is more primary in origin than the plot); we will subsequently have to solve the problem of isolating some primary elements differently than Veselovsky does” (c).
Propp considers these “primary elements” to be the functions of the actors. “A function is understood as an act of an actor, defined in terms of its significance for the course of action” (c)
Functions are repeated and can be counted; all functions are distributed among the characters so that seven “circles of action” and, accordingly, seven types of characters can be distinguished:
pest,
donor,
assistant,
the character you are looking for,
sender,
hero,
false hero
Based on the analysis of 100 fairy tales from the collection of A.N. Afanasyev “Russian folk tales” V. Propp identified 31 functions within which the action develops. These are, in particular:
absence (“One of the family members leaves home”),
ban (“The hero is approached with a ban”),
violation of the ban, etc.
A detailed analysis of one hundred fairy tales with different plots shows that “the sequence of functions is always the same” and that “all fairy tales are of the same type in their structure” (c) despite their apparent diversity.
Veselovsky's point of view was also disputed by other scientists. After all, motives arose not only in the primitive era, but also later. “It is important to find such a definition of this term,” wrote A. Bem, “that would make it possible to highlight it in any work, both ancient and modern.”
According to A. Bem, “a motif is the ultimate level of artistic abstraction from the specific content of a work, enshrined in the simplest verbal formula.”
As an example, the scientist cites a motif that unites three works: the poems “Prisoner of the Caucasus” by Pushkin, “Prisoner of the Caucasus” by Lermontov and the story “Atala” by Chateaubriand - this is the love of a foreign woman for a captive; incoming motive: the release of a captive by a foreigner, either successful or unsuccessful. And as a development of the original motive - the death of the heroine.
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Motif as a structural and semantic unit of a work
In the 90s of the 20th century, interest in issues of poetics deepened significantly, among which last place The problem of identifying and identifying the motive as an independent literary category is occupied. Despite the active study of the latter, there are still no stable criteria in defining the concept of “motive”.
To begin with, we note that motive [from the Latin moveo – “I move”] is a term transferred to literary studies from music, where it denotes a group of several notes, rhythmically designed. By analogy with this, in literary criticism the term “motive” begins to be used to designate the minimal component of a work of art.
Currently, the theoretical study of motive is an extensive network of concepts and approaches; we will outline the main ones.
1. Semantic theory (A. N. Veselovsky, O. M. Freidenberg, which is characterized by the position of motive as an indecomposable and stable unit of narration. A. N. Veselovsky by motive means “a formula that figuratively answered public questions at first “, which nature placed everywhere for man, or which reinforced especially vivid, seemingly important or repeated impressions of reality.”
2. The morphological concept (V. Ya Propp, B. I. Yarkho) studies the motive through its constituent elements, components of the logical-grammatical structure of the statement - a set of subjects, objects and predicates, expressed in certain plot variations.
3. Dichotomous concept (A. I. Beletsky, A. Dundes, B. N. Putilov, E. M. Meletinsky).
According to dichotomous ideas about motive, its nature is dualistic and is revealed in two correlated principles:
1) a generalized invariant of the motive, taken in abstraction from its specific plot expressions;
2) a set of variants of the motive, expressed in plots (allomotives).
A motive, according to A.I. Beletsky, is “a simple sentence of an explanatory nature, which once gave all the content to a myth, a figurative explanation of phenomena incomprehensible to the primitive mind.”
A. I. Beletsky distinguishes two levels of implementation of the motive in the plot narrative - “schematic motive”, which correlates with the invariant plot scheme, and “real motive”, which is an element of the plot of the work.
B. N. Putilov associates two interrelated meanings with the concept of motive:
1) scheme, formula, plot unit in the form of some kind of elementary generalization;
2) the unit itself in the form of a specific text embodiment.
B. N. Putilov uses the term “motive” itself in the meaning of “motifemes” - as an invariant scheme that generalizes the essence of a number of allomotives.
The researcher identifies certain functions of the motif in the system of epic narration:
1) constructive (the motive is included in the components of the plot);
2) dynamic (the motive acts as an organized moment of plot movement);
3) semantic (the motif carries its own meanings that determine the content of the plot);
4) producing (the motive produces new meanings and shades of meaning - due to the inherent abilities for change, variation, transformation).
The main thesis of E.M. Meletinsky’s concept is that “the structure of a motive can be likened to the structure of a sentence (judgment).” The motive is considered as a one-act microplot, the basis of which is action. The action in the motive is a predicate on which the actant arguments (agent, patient, etc.) depend.
4. Thematic concept (B.V. Tomashevsky, V.B. Shklovsky).
Researchers define motive exclusively through the category of theme, noting that the concept of theme is a concept that unites the material of the work. The whole work can have a theme, and at the same time, each part of the work has its own theme. By decomposing the work into thematic parts in this way, one can reach the non-decomposable parts.
“The theme of an indecomposable part of a work is called a motive. In essence, every sentence has its own motive.”
5. Motif in the theory of intertext (B. M. Gasparov, Yu. K. Shcheglov).
According to this concept, “motifs represent meanings and connect texts into a single semantic space.” In addition, intertextual analysis is characterized by a combination of the concepts of motive and leitmotif: a leitmotif is a semantic repetition within the text of a work, and a motive is a semantic repetition outside the text of a work. Intertext does not accept text boundaries at all, so the motive in in this case is interpreted extremely broadly: it is almost any semantic repetition in the text.
To summarize the review of theoretical judgments of literary scholars and folklorists about the motif as a significant structural unit of a work, the following points should be highlighted:
– repeatability of the motive (in this case, repetition is understood as not lexical, but functional-semantic repetition);
– traditionality, i.e. stability of the motif in folklore and literary tradition(a motif is a “traditional, recurring element of folklore and literary storytelling”;
– the presence of a semantic invariant of the motive and its variants.
In this case, it seems productive to distinguish between two meanings of the term. Firstly, the motive as the smallest structural unit of the text, focused mainly on plot and narration. This interpretation of the motive has been well studied, especially on the material of historically early literature. Significant scientific results have been achieved here. Secondly, the motive, as the semantically most significant verbal unit of the text, focused primarily on the individual author’s concept, is widely used in the analysis of literature from the period of individual creativity.
The distinction between the two meanings of the term is due to the specifics of literary genres. The “narrative motif” is mainly represented in epics and partly in dramatic works, which is associated with the leading principle of plot and narration (in the broad sense) in these types of literature. Here the motif serves as the “building” unit of the plot. In the lyrics, the second meaning of the motive seems to be the leading one, since the plot connections here are weakened and the semantic significance of verbal units and their connections comes to the fore. However, one cannot deny the presence of both types of motive in all types of literature of the period of individual author’s creativity, where the choice of motive units is determined primarily by the author’s concept.
As part of the ongoing research, we consider it important to dwell on the specifics of the motive in a poetic text.
The specificity of the motive in the lyrics is determined by the characteristics of the lyrical text and the lyrical event, which is portrayed by the author not as an external objectified “event of an incident,” but as an internal subjectivized “event of experience.” Therefore, in a lyrical work, a motive is, first of all, a repeating complex of feelings and ideas. But individual motives in lyric poetry are much more independent than in epic and drama, where they are subordinated to the development of action. “The task of a lyrical work is to compare individual motifs and verbal images, giving the impression of an artistic construction of thought.”
Undoubtedly, in lyric poetry it is not the object that is primary, but the subject of the utterance and its relationship to to the outside world. An amazing property of lyricism is the desire and ability to approach the general through the particular, and through the everyday and ordinary - to the eternal and universal. Another paradoxical property of lyrics is the combination of the desire for extreme brevity and conciseness with the desire for “a certain descriptiveness, communicative design, artistic identification and expression for everyone.” In addition, at the center of the lyric poem there is a lyrical subject, “accumulating in his inner world the flow of the lyrical plot." The semantic organization of the world of lyrical texts is also reflected in the units of this world - motives. Placing the lyrical “I” at the center of the semantic structure reorients everything in the lyrical text (including motives) towards the relationship to this lyrical subject. The motifs are one way or another grouped around this center and, without generally losing their autonomous significance, are inextricably linked with the lyrical “I” of the text.
Specific features of a motive in a lyrical text are the semantic tension of units representing this motive, as well as special variability, which can be not only lexical, but also semantic. The lyrical motif, highlighted in a set of texts, is lexically expressed only in some of them, while in the rest the main idea of the poem, related motifs, main and secondary images, and the subtext of the poem can refer to this motif.
We emphasize that the lyrical motif can be identified exclusively within the context - a cycle of poems or the totality of the author’s entire work. It is impossible to identify a motif in a particular poem without taking into account the manifestation of variants of the same motif in other texts. This is also due to the properties of lyrics as a type of literature - a small volume of lyrical text, the absence of a dynamic plot. Related to this is the need to study lyrical motifs in the system.
The specificity of the motive in lyric poetry is connected not only with the characteristics of the latter as a type of literature, but is also due to the special properties poetic language, characteristic of lyrics.
So the motive– stable, repeating structural and semantic unit; a semantically rich component of the work, related to the theme, idea, but not identical to them; a semantic (content) element essential for understanding the author’s concept.
Currently, scientists of the Siberian Branch Russian Academy sciences (V.I. Tyupa, I.V. Silantyev, E.K. Romodanovskaya and others) are working on compiling a Dictionary of plots and motifs of Russian literature, based on the understanding of motive as the primary element of the plot, which goes back to the teachings of A.N. Veselovsky.
Great achievements in the development of the theory of motive in modern literary criticism belong to I.V.Silantiev. Some of the scientist’s works are devoted to an analytical description of the motive, as well as a historiographical consideration of this category in Russian literary criticism. Comparing the motive with the theme, plot, hero of a work of art, the scientist comes to the following understanding: “A motive is a narrative phenomenon, in its structure correlating the beginning of a plot action with its actants and a certain spatio-temporal scheme.” Defining a motif as “intertextual in its functioning, invariant in its belonging to the artistic language of the narrative tradition and variant in its plot realizations,” the philologist writes that this term acquires a specific meaning within a certain plot context.”
V.E. Khalizev, clarifying the idea of the semiotic significance of a motif, speaks of its ability “to represent a separate word or phrase, repeated or varied, or to appear as something denoted by different lexical units.” The ability to appear half-realized in a work of art, to go into subtext, is defined by a philologist as the most important feature of a motive.
Analyzing the relationship between hero and motive in works of art of modern times, I.V. Silantyev notes that these thematic-semantic connections are no longer always manifested.
In modern literary criticism, there is a tendency to consider motive not only in the context of elucidating literary trends (where it is understood as a category of comparative historical literary criticism), but also in the context of the writer’s entire work. The priority in posing the question belongs to A.N. Veselovsky. In his understanding, the writer thinks in motives, since the creative activity of fantasy is not an arbitrary game of “living pictures of life,” real or fictitious. This leads to a more specific and practical scientific problem of studying the individual vocabulary of motives of an individual writer.
The authors of the article “Motives of Lermontov’s Poetry” (L.M. Shchemeleva, V.I. Korovin, etc.), considering the poet’s work as a whole as an interaction, a correlation of motives, argue that this term is losing its previous content, which related to the formal structure of the work , and “from the field of strict poetics moves into the field of studying the worldview and psychology of the writer.”
The Encyclopedic Literary Dictionary (1987) states that motif is "more direct than other components artistic form, correlates with the world of the author’s thoughts and feelings.”
At the moment, in literary criticism there is also the idea of a motive as the property not of the text and its creator, but of the unrestricted thought of the interpreter of the work. The properties of the motive, according to B.M. Gasparov, “grow anew every time, in the process of analysis itself.” These properties, according to the scientist, depend on which contexts of the writer’s work are addressed when researching. B.M. Gasparov understands a motif as a cross-level unit, which, repeated in a literary text, varies and intertwines with other motifs, creating its (the text’s) unique poetics. Based on this interpretation of the term, the literary scholar introduces the concept of motive analysis into scientific use. This analysis is a variation of the poststructuralist approach to literary text. The essence of motive analysis, according to the scientist, lies in the fundamental rejection of the concept of “fixed blocks of structure that have an objectively specified function in the construction of the text.” Metaphorically presenting the structure of the text “like a tangled ball of thread,” B.M. Gasparov proposes to take not traditional terms (words, sentences), but motives as the unit of analysis. His follower, V.P. Rudnev, considering motive analysis “an effective approach to a literary text,” notes the natural variability” in the interpretation of a particular motive, “because the structure<...>artistic discourse is inexhaustible and endless."
For our research, the thematic approach to the study of motive that developed in the 20s of the last century is of interest. Representatives of this direction (V.B. Shklovsky, B.V. Tomashevsky, A.P. Skaftymov, G.V. Krasnov, etc.) interpret the motif not as the main unit of plot, but in close connection with the theme of the work. In the traditional approach to motive as a narrative element, the predicative nature of the keyword has conceptual significance. Thematic direction In the practice of identifying a motive, it allows its designation through a noun that does not imply a set of actions.
Criticizing the thematic approach, I.V. Silantyev notes that the lyrical motif is different from the narrative one. If the latter, according to the scientist, is based on “the moment of action that gives the motive a predicative character,” then the lyrical motive is based “on the internal event of subjective experience.” Thus, if in a narrative motif the determining principle is the plot, and the theme is subordinated to the motive, then in the lyrical motive the importance of the thematic principle prevails, and the motive is subordinate to the theme. Based on this position, I.V. Silantyev writes that “every motive in the lyrics is exclusively thematic.” This interpretation of the motive is conceptual for our research.
Some scientists see identity in the similarity of the concepts of motive and theme. For example, B.V. Tomashevsky writes that “the themes of small parts of the work are called motives that cannot be split up.” Failure of some scholars to distinguish between motive and theme in the practice of literary research I.V. Silantiev explains them as an attempt “at the level of theoretical construction to overcome the objective duality of the very phenomenon of literary themes.”
Modern literary scholars distinguish between the concepts of motive and theme. Thus, V.E. Khalizev says that the motive is “actively involved in the theme, but is not identical to it.” The scientist identifies a distinctive property of the motive: its verbal consolidation and repetition in the text.
It should be noted that in literary studies concepts related to motive are also used - “motiveme”, “allomotiv” and “leitmotif”. In the thematic-semantic aspect, B.V. Tomashevsky considered the relationship between motive and leitmotif: “If<...>the motive is repeated more or less often, and especially if it is cross-cutting, i.e. woven into the plot, it is called a leitmotif."
In literary criticism, there is another (functional) tradition of understanding the motive as a figurative turn that is repeated throughout the entire work” as a moment of “constant characterization of a character, experience or situation.” E.A. Balburov explains the emergence of the categorical pair “motiveme-allomotiv” by the peculiarity of the interaction of motives in the text. The scientist notes their “ability to unfold into a plot, form a tangle of motives or break up into smaller motives,” or even parts (allomotives and motivemes).
Modern literary scholars believe that the only possible dictionary of motives and plots is the dictionary of motives. Yu.V. Shatin in the article “Motive and Context” points out that two components of the motiveme should be taken into account - formal (distinguishing one motiveme from another) and substantive, related to the context. The scientist writes that it is necessary to explore the meaning of any motive taking into account the consideration of the context in which it exists. According to Yu.V. Shatin, it is important to study not only the archetypal motifs that gave rise to the allomotive, but also its immediate contexts.
Thus, motive in literary criticism is considered from fundamentally opposite points of view. Thus, some scientists associate the emergence of motifs only in folklore (A.N. Veselovsky, V.Ya. Propp, E.M. Meletinsky). The ideas of the mythological direction are subject to critical rethinking in the works of D.S. Likhachev and A.V. Mikhailov. In addition to the semantic one (O.M. Freidenberg, B.N. Putilov...), in modern literary criticism there is a thematic approach (B.V. Tomashevsky, V.V. Zhirmunsky, V.B. Shklovsky, G.V. Krasnov and etc.) and understanding of motive as the basis for plotting (by scientists of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences). Also, at present, the school of B.M. Gasparov, who understands the motive as an extra-structural principle - the property of interpretation of the interpreter of a literary text, is of great interest to researchers.
But no matter what semantic tones are given to the term “motive” in literary criticism, its relevance remains obvious.
According to E.A. Balburov, the researcher, looking for a motive, “translates from a linear-discrete language to an iconic one,” i.e. does the opposite of the author's work. This work, according to Yu.M. Lotman, has a meaning-generating effect, and the study of the motive helps to identify the semantic riches of the work.
If you read all national poetry as a single book, then you can identify stable motifs in it that go beyond the individual author’s consciousness and belong to the poetic consciousness of the entire people, characterizing their holistic perception of nature. In fact, from the set of poetic works another set is isolated, organized not around authors, but around motives. The lines are not closed by the narrow context in which the poet concluded them, but echo each other at a distance of decades, even centuries. Just as different motifs are combined in a poem by one author, so one motif unites the works of different authors around itself and has its own poetic reality, which can also be aesthetically perceived.
As a working definition of the motive on which the research of the topic will be based thesis, I.V. Silantyev’s definition was chosen: “The motive in the lyrics most fully characterizes the author’s concept. These are semantically “strong” units of the verbal structure of a poem. The motive includes ideological content lyrical work and serves as an expression author's position» .