The meaning of motive in literary works
VARIETY OF MOTIVES
motive narrative literature work
In the literature of different eras, many mythological motifs 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 conscious death because of a woman runs through many works of the 19th-20th centuries. Werther's suicide in Goethe's novel "The Sorrows of Young Werther", the death of Vladimir Lensky in Pushkin's novel "Eugene Onegin", the death of Romashov in Kuprin's novel "The Duel". Apparently, this motif can be considered as a transformation of the motif identified by Veselovsky in the poetic work of deep antiquity: “the fight for the bride.”
Motifs can be not only plot, but also descriptive, lyrical, not only intertextual (Veselovsky has just such in mind), but also intratextual. We can talk about the iconicity of the motif - both in its repetition from text to text, and within one text. IN modern literary criticism the term “motive” is used in different methodological contexts and for different purposes, which largely explains the differences in the interpretation of the concept and its most important properties.
A generally accepted indicator of a motive is its repetition. “...The role of a motive in a work can be,” believes B. Gasparov, “any phenomenon, any semantic “spot” - an event, character trait, landscape element, any object, spoken word, paint, sound, etc.; the only thing that defines a motif is its reproduction in the text, so that unlike a traditional plot narrative, where it is more or less predetermined what can be considered discrete components ("characters" or "events"), there is no set "alphabet" “- it is formed directly in the deployment of the structure and through the structure” 10.
For example, in V. Nabokov’s novel “Feat” one can highlight motifs of the sea, flickering lights, and paths leading into the forest.
In the same novel, another motive - the hero’s alienness to the world around him - largely determines the development of the plot and helps clarify the main idea. And if in “Feat” the motive of foreignness is limited to exile (“his choice is not free<…>there is one thing he must do, he is an exile, doomed to live outside his home"), then in other works of Nabokov it takes on a broader meaning and can be defined as the motive of the hero’s foreignness to the vulgarity and mediocrity of the world around him (“The Gift”, “The Defense of Luzhin” , " True life Sebastian Knight" and others).
One of the motifs of Tolstoy’s epic novel “War and Peace” is spiritual softness, often associated with feelings of gratitude and submission to fate, with tenderness and tears, but most importantly, it marks certain higher, illuminating moments in the lives of the heroes. Let us remember the episodes when the old Prince Bolkonsky learns about the death of his daughter-in-law; wounded Prince Andrei in Mytishchi. Pierre, after a conversation with Natasha, who feels irreparably guilty before Prince Andrei, experiences some kind of special elation: he speaks of his, Pierre’s, “blooming to a new life, softened and encouraged soul.” And after captivity, Bezukhov asks Natasha about last days Andrei Bolkonsky: “So he calmed down? Have you softened up?
Perhaps the central motif of “The Master and Margarita” by M.A. Bulgakov - the light emanating from full moon, disturbing, exciting, painful. This light somehow “affects” a number of characters in the novel. It is associated primarily with the idea of torment of conscience - with the appearance and fate of Pontius Pilate, who was once afraid for his “career”.
In Blok’s cycle “Carmen” the word “treason” performs the function of motive. It captures the poetic and at the same time tragic element of the soul. The world of betrayal here is associated with the “storm of gypsy passions” and leaving the homeland, coupled with an inexplicable feeling of sadness, with the “black and wild fate” of the poet, and at the same time with the charm of boundless freedom, free flight “without orbits”: “This is - music of secret betrayals?/Is this the heart captured by Carmen?”
One of the most important motives of B.L. Pasternak - a face that the poet saw not only in people who remained true to themselves, but also in nature and higher power being 11. This motive became the poet's leading theme and an expression of his moral credo. Let's remember the last stanza of the poem “Being famous is ugly...”:
And should not a single slice
Don't give up on your face
But to be alive, alive and only,
Alive and only until the end.
Apocalyptic motifs in Solzhenitsyn's prose
Solzhenitsyn understood his role as a writer this way: “I want to return her memory to Russia.” He wanted to be the memory of a people who had suffered a great misfortune, but did not want to be captured by illusory comparisons and comparisons. "I ask...
Biblical mythologies and their interpretation in modern times artistic prose(using the example of novels by V. Sharov, A. Varlamov, F. Gorenshtein)
IN modern literature The dominant method is close to realism, “post-realism”. This realism does not just hysterically depict reality as it is, but penetrates into the essence of things, tries to comprehend what is impossible to see with a keen eye...
Biblical motives of Bulgakov's work "The Master and Margarita"
Komi-Permyak epic. Tales of Pere-Bogatyr
In the plot: the confrontation between Pera and Leshiy. Pera: 1. Hunter, has no inclination towards agriculture; 2. Bogatyr, up to four meters tall; 3. Lives in the forest in a hunting hut; 4. Hunting tools - bow and arrows, spear; 5. Vehicle - skis; 6...
The motif of natural elements in the works of Daniil Kharms
In order to carry out holistic analysis motive in the author’s work, we need to find this motive in each of the selected works, highlight the ideas associated with it and combine the conclusions into a general conclusion...
The image of the muse in the works of A.S. Pushkin and A.A. Akhmatova
Issues and artistic features stories by A.P. Chekhov's "The Black Monk"
It is possible to assert with complete confidence the genetic connection of the “Black Monk” A.P. Chekhov with the biblical tradition. The leitmotif of the entire work is the main biblical story, telling about the root of all human troubles...
Problems of modern English drama late XIX-XX centuries
Harold Pinter is one of the unusual writers the end of the 20th century. Harold Pinter's plays are pointless, the action can take place anywhere, without reference to reality. These are plays about...
Diversity artistic ideas in the stories of Leonid Andreev
Religious and philosophical foundations of A.A.’s creativity Akhmatova
religious lyrics by Akhmatova 1.1 Motif as a structural and semantic unit of a work In the 90s of the 20th century, interest in issues of poetics deepened to a significant extent...
Religious ideas of the novel “The Master and Margarita” by M. Bulgakov and the novel “Pyramid” by L. Leonov (similarities and differences between philosophical and Christian postulates)
Four chapters latest edition(second, sixteenth, twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth) - the story of one day in the spring month of Nisan, a fragment of the Passion of the Lord, filled with Bulgakov’s hand. Yeshua Ha-Nozri, Pontius Pilate, Matthew Levi...
Chivalric romance in medieval literature
Let's take a closer look at the most popular XII--XIII centuries chivalric novel "Tristan and Isolde". “To everyone who loved and lusted, Inspired bliss and grieved, Was mad and jealous...” Tom. Novel about Tristan // In the book...
Specifics of motive organization literary text Fedora Sologuba
A paradoxical situation has arisen in Sologub studies: Sologub’s work is recognized as predominantly poetic (and he himself considered himself mainly a poet), scientists refer to the lyrics as something a priori studied...
One group includes stories in which personal experience the author’s life in his homeland, when specific events and reflections become the stimulus for broad generalizations: “Inna”, “Moscow Snow”, “Moscow Easter”, “Little House”...
Scientists call the motive either the smallest event unit of the plot, or the unit of the plot, or an element of the text in general, regardless of the plot or plot. Let's try to understand the different interpretations of one of the most common terms.
There are many opinions on the origin of the motif: from him. motive, French motif, from lat. moveo - moving, from French. motif - melody, tune.
In the Russian science of literature, A.N. was the first to turn to the concept of motive. Veselovsky. Analyzing myths and fairy tales, he came to the conclusion that the motive is the simplest narrative unit, which cannot be further decomposed. From our point of view, this category has a plot character.
The thematic concept of the motif is developed in the works of B. Tomashevsky and V. Shklovsky. In their understanding, a motive is the themes into which a work can be divided. Each sentence contains motives - small themes
Most folklore and literary works have a motif, being the smallest element of the plot. The outstanding Russian folklorist V. Ya. Propp played a huge role in the study of the plot. In his book “The Morphology of the Fairy Tale” (1929), he demonstrated the possibility of the existence of several motives in a sentence. Therefore, he abandoned the term motive and resorted to his own category: the functions of the characters. He built a model of the plot of a fairy tale, consisting of sequences of elements. Such functions of heroes, according to Propp, limited quantity(31); Not all fairy tales have all the functions, but the sequence of the main functions is strictly observed. The fairy tale usually begins with the parents leaving the house (absentee function) and turning to the children with a ban on going outside, opening the door, or touching anything (prohibition). As soon as the parents leave, the children immediately violate this prohibition (violation of the prohibition), etc. The meaning of Propp's discovery was that his scheme was suitable for all fairy tales. All fairy tales have the motive of the road, the motive of searching for the missing bride, the motive of recognition. From these numerous motives various plots are formed. IN given value the term motive is more often used in relation to works of oral folk art. “Morozko acts differently than Baba Yaga. But a function, as such, is a constant quantity. To study a fairy tale, the question is important What fairy-tale characters do, but the question is Who does and How does - these are questions of only incidental study. The functions of the characters represent those components with which Veselovsky’s “motives” can be replaced...” 10
In most cases, a motif is a repeated word, phrase, situation, object or idea. Most often, the term “motive” is used to designate a situation that is repeated in various literary works, for example, the motive of parting with a loved one.
Motifs help create images and have various functions in the structure of the work. Thus, the mirror motif in V. Nabokov’s prose has at least 3 functions. Firstly, epistemologically: the mirror is a means of characterizing the character and becomes a way of self-knowledge of the hero. Secondly, this motif carries an ontological load: it acts as a boundary between worlds, organizing complex spatio-temporal relationships. And thirdly, the mirror motif can perform an axiological function, expressing moral, aesthetic, and artistic values. Thus, the hero of the novel “Despair” turns out to have a favorite word for mirror, he likes to write this word backwards, loves reflections, similarities, but is completely unable to see the difference and goes so far as to mistake a person with a dissimilar appearance for his double. Nabokovsky's Herman kills in order to mystify those around him, to make them believe in his death. The mirror motif is invariant, that is, it has a stable basis that can be filled with new meaning in a new context. Therefore, it appears in various versions in many other texts, where the main ability of the mirror is in demand - to reflect, to double the object.
Each motive generates an associative field for the character, for example, in Pushkin’s story “The Station Warden,” the motive of the prodigal son is set by pictures hanging on the walls of the stationmaster’s house, and is revealed with particular poignancy when his daughter comes to his grave. The motif of the house can be included in the space of the city, which, in turn, can consist of motifs of temptation, seduction, demonism. The literature of Russian emigrants is most often characterized by a mood that is revealed in the motifs of nostalgia, emptiness, loneliness, and emptiness.
A motive is an essential semantic (content) element of the text for understanding the author’s concept (for example, the motive of death in “The Tale of dead princess..." by A.S. Pushkin, the motive of loneliness in the lyrics of M.Yu. Lermontov, the motive of cold in "Easy Breathing" and " Cold autumn"I.A. Bunin, the motif of the full moon in "The Master and Margarita" by M.A. Bulgakov). M., as a stable formal-contain. component lit. text, can be selected within one or several. prod. writer (for example, a certain cycle), and in the complex of his entire work, as well as k.-l. lit. direction or an entire era 11”. The motif may contain elements of symbolization (a road by N.V. Gogol, a garden by Chekhov, a desert by M.Yu. Lermontov). The motif has a direct verbal (in lexemes) fixation in the text of the work itself; in poetry, its criterion in most cases is the presence of a key, supporting word that carries a special semantic load (smoke in Tyutchev, exile in Lermontov).
According to N. Tamarchenko, each motive has two forms of existence: a situation and an event. A situation is a set of circumstances, a position, a situation in which the characters find themselves. An event is something that happened, a significant phenomenon or fact of personal or public life. An event changes the situation. Motif is the simplest narrative unit that connects the events and situations that make up the lives of the characters. literary work. An event is something that happened, a phenomenon, a fact of personal or public life. The situation is a set of circumstances, positions in which the characters find themselves, as well as the relationship between them. The event changes this ratio. Motives can be dynamic or adynamic. Motives of the first type accompany changes in the situation, as opposed to a static motive.
In recent years, literary criticism has outlined a synthesis of approaches to understanding motive. This movement was largely determined by the works of R. Yakobson, A. Zholkovsky and Yu. Shcheglov. The motive is no longer considered as part of the plot or plot. Having lost its connection with the event, the motive is now interpreted as almost any semantic repetition in the text - a repeating semantic spot. This means that the use of this category is quite legitimate when analyzing lyrical works. The motive can be not only an event, a character trait, but also an object, sound, or landscape element that has increased semantic significance in the text. A motive is always a repetition, but the repetition is not lexical, but functional-semantic. That is, in a work it can be manifested through many options.
Motives can be varied, among them are archetypal, cultural and many others. Archetypal ones are associated with the expression of the collective unconscious (the motive of selling the soul to the devil). Myths and archetypes represent a collective, culturally authoritative variety of motifs to which French thematic criticism devoted itself to the study of the 1960s. Cultural motifs were born and developed in works of literature, painting, music, and other arts. Italian motifs in Pushkin’s lyrics are a layer of the diverse culture of Italy mastered by the poet: from the works of Dante and Petrarch to the poetry of the ancient Romans.
Along with the concept of motive, there is the concept of leitmotif.
Leitmotif. A term of Germanic origin, literally meaning "leading motive". This is a frequently repeated image or motif that conveys the main mood; it is also a complex of homogeneous motifs. Thus, the leitmotif of “the vanity of life” usually consists of motives of temptation, seduction, and anti-home. The leitmotif of “return to a lost paradise” is characteristic of many of Nabokov’s works in the Russian-language period of creativity and it includes motives of nostalgia, longing for childhood, and sadness about the loss of a child’s outlook on life. In Chekhov's "The Seagull" the leitmotif is a sounding image - the sound of a broken string. Leitmotifs are used to create subtext in a work. When combined, they form the leitmotif structure of the work.
Literature
Fundamentals of literary criticism: Textbook. manual for philological faculties of pedagogy. university / Under the general ed. V. P. Meshcheryakova. M.: Moscow Lyceum, 2000. pp. 30–34.
Tomashevsky B.V. Theory of Literature. Poetics. M., 1996. pp. 182–185, 191–193.
Fedotov O.I. Introduction to literary criticism: Textbook. allowance. M.: Academy, 1998. pp. 34–39.
Khalizev V. E. Introduction to literary criticism. Literary work: basic concepts and terms / Under. ed. L. V. Chernets. M., 1999. pp. 381–393.
Tselkova L.N. Motive // Introduction to literary studies. Literary work: basic concepts and terms / Under. ed. L. V. Chernets. M., 1999. pp. 202–209.
Further reading
1. History and narration: Sat. articles. M.: New Literary Review, 2006. 600 p.
2. Materials for the “Dictionary of Plots and Motifs of Russian Literature”: from plot to motive / Ed. V.I. Tyupy. Novosibirsk: Institute of Philology SB RAS, 1996. 192 p.
3. Theory of literature: Textbook. manual: In 2 volumes / Ed. N. D. Tamarchenko. – M.: Publishing house. Center "Academy", 2004. T. 1. P. 183–205.
1 Kozhinov V. Plot, plot, composition. pp. 408-485.
2Korman B.O. The integrity of a literary work and an experimental dictionary of literary terms. P.45.
3Medvedev P.N. Formal method in literary criticism. L., 1928. P.187.
4Plot // Introduction to literary criticism. P.381.
5Kozhinov V.V. Collision // KLE. T. 3. Stlb. 656-658.
6Tomashevsky B.V. Theory of literature. Poetics. pp. 230-232.
7Zhirmunsky V.M. Introduction to literary criticism: A course of lectures. P. 375.
8 Tolstoy L.N. Full collection cit.: In 90 volumes. M., 1953. T.62. P. 377.
9Kozhinov V. S. 456.
10Propp V.Ya. Morphology of a fairy tale. C.29.
11Nezvankina L.K., Shchemeleva L.M. Motive // LES. P. 230
Motif is a term that entered the literature from musicology. Was first recorded in " musical dictionary"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 components the 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 another plot (in a fairy tale there is not one task, but five, etc.)
Subsequently, combinations of motives were transformed into various compositions and became the basis of such genres as the novel, story, poem. 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 a plot, each motive can be main, secondary, episodic... many motives 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 the characters, defined in terms of their significance for the course of the 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 the literature of different eras there are many 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 garden motif is 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 recurring set 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 V lyrical works 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.)
At his lectures, Stepanov said only the following:
According to Tomashevsky, motives are divided
Free and bound motifs:
Those that can be skipped (details, details play an important role in the plot: they do not make the work sketchy.)
Those that cannot be omitted when retelling, because the cause-and-effect relationship is broken... form the basis of the plot.
Dynamic and static motifs:
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.
TO oppositional 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. (“Dowry” by Ostrovsky using the example of weapons. “There is a carpet above the sofa on which weapons are hung.”
First it is introduced as a detail of the setting. 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 Larisa with this pistol. The introduction of the weapon motif here is compositionally motivated. This weapon is necessary for the outcome. It serves as 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 thunder for a scene of death or crime),
2) by contrast (motive 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 along the wrong way. 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.
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 “ 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 dating back to the time described by his grandfather.
We decided, with the permission of our 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 , in many respects diverge from the views expressed by Pushkin on his own. Realistic illusion in a more experienced reader is expressed as a requirement for “vitality.”
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 the construction of the work, the introduction to the work of art is easy to understand extraliterary material, i.e. topics that have real meaning beyond the realm of fiction.
So, in historical novels historical figures are brought onto the stage, 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.
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. So this, for example, affects poetic vocabulary, where the very use of individual words should be in harmony with solid literary traditions(source of “prosaisms” - words prohibited in poetry). As a special case of artistic motivation, there is a technique defamiliarization. Introducing non-literary material into a work so that it does not fall out of 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. There is a well-known technique of defamiliarization by L. Tolstoy, when, describing the military council in Fili in “War and Peace,” he introduces as actor a peasant girl observing this council and in her own, childish way, without understanding the essence of what was happening, interpreting all the actions and speeches of the council participants.
1) Sierotwiń ski S.
“Subject. The subject of treatment, the main idea developed in a literary work or scientific discussion.
Main topic works. The main substantive moment in the work, which forms the basis for the construction of the depicted world (for example, the interpretation of the most general foundations of the ideological meaning of the work, in a plot work - the fate of the hero, in a dramatic work - the essence of the conflict, in a lyrical work - the dominant motives, etc.).
Minor theme of the work. The theme of a part of a work that is subordinate to the main theme. The theme of the smallest meaningful integrity into which a work can be divided is called a motive” (S. 278).
2) Wilpert G. von. Sachwörterbuch der Literatur.
“Subject(Greek - supposed), the main leading idea of the work; in a specific development of the subject under discussion. Generally accepted in special literature concept into German terminology material history(Stoffgeschichte), which distinguishes only material (Stoff) and motive, in contrast to English. and French, not yet included. It is proposed for motives of such a degree of abstraction that they do not contain the grain of action: tolerance, humanity, honor, guilt, freedom, identity, mercy, etc.” (S. 942-943).
3) Dictionary of literary terms.
A) Zundelovich Ya. Subject. Stlb. 927-929.
“Subject- the main idea, the main sound of the work. Representing that indecomposable emotional-intellectual core that the poet seems to be trying to decompose with each of his works, the concept of theme is by no means covered by the so-called. content. Topic in in a broad sense words is that complete image world, which determines the artist’s poetic worldview.<...>But depending on the material through which this image is refracted, we have one or another reflection of it, i.e., one or another idea (a specific theme), which determines this particular work.”
b) Eichenholtz M. Subject. Stlb. 929-937.
“Subjects- a set of literary phenomena that make up the subject-semantic moment of a poetic work. The following terms related to the concept of subject matter are subject to definition: theme, motive, plot, plot of an artistic and literary work.”
4) Abramovich G. Topic // Dictionary of literary terms. pp. 405-406.
“Subject<...> what is the basis main idea literary work, the main problem posed by the writer in it.”
5) Maslovsky V.I. Topic // LES. P. 437.
“Subject<...>, the circle of events that form the life basis of the epic. or dramatic prod. and at the same time serving for the formulation of philosophical, social, ethical. and other ideological problems."
Motive
1) Sierotwiń ski 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 features material
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 lover 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 motif (meaning “leitmotif” from the German “leading motive”) can arise within a single 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 mental pattern that is repeated in the same situations or to evoke a certain mood within a single work, or across different works of the same 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 of literary terms. T. 1. Stlb. 466 - 467.
“M.(from moveo - I move, I set in motion), in the broad sense of the 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 motifs (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 called plot 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 in myth And fairy tale; basis, based on the development of one of the members of M. (a+b turns into a+b+b+b) or several combinations. motives grow plot (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.”
“The term “M.” receives a more strict meaning 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).”
It also has a responsible place in the science of literature. It is rooted in almost all modern European languages, goes back to the Latin verb moveo (I move) and now has a very wide range of meanings.
The initial, leading, main meaning of this literary term is difficult to define. Motive is component of works of increased significance(semantic richness). He is actively involved in the theme and concept (idea) of the work, but is not identical to them. Being, according to B.N. Putilov, “stable semantic units”, motives “are characterized by an increased, one might say exceptional, degree of semioticity. Each motive has a stable set of meanings." The motif is localized in one way or another in the work, but at the same time it is present in a variety of forms. It can be a separate word or phrase, repeated and varied, or appear as something denoted by various lexical units, or appear in the form of a title or epigraph, or remain only guessable, lost in the subtext. Having resorted to allegory, it is legitimate to assert that the sphere of motives consists of the links of the work, marked by internal, invisible italics, which should be felt and recognized by a sensitive reader and literary analyst. The most important feature of a motive is its ability to appear half-realized in the text, revealed in it incompletely, and mysterious.
Motifs can act either as an aspect of individual works and their cycles, as a link in their construction, or as the property of the entire work of the writer and even entire genres, movements, literary eras, world literature as such. In this supra-individual side, they constitute one of the most important subjects of historical poetics (see pp. 372–373).
Since the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the term “motive” has been widely used in the study of plots, especially historically early folklore ones. So, A.N. Veselovsky, in his unfinished “Poetics of Plots,” spoke of the motif as the simplest, indivisible unit of narration, as a repeating schematic formula that forms the basis of plots (originally myths and fairy tales). These are, the scientist gives examples of motives, the abduction of the sun or a beauty, water drying up in a source, etc. The motives here are not so much related to individual works, how many are considered as the common property of verbal art. Motives, according to Veselovsky, are historically stable and endlessly repeatable. In a cautious, speculative form, the scientist argued: “... isn’t poetic creativity limited to known certain formulas, stable motives that one generation accepted from the previous one, and this from the third<...>? Doesn’t each new poetic era work on images bequeathed from time immemorial, necessarily revolving within their boundaries, allowing itself only new combinations of old ones and only filling them<...>new understanding of life<...>? Based on the understanding of motive as the primary element of plot, going back to Veselovsky, scientists of the Siberian branch Russian Academy Sciences are now working on compiling a dictionary of plots and motifs in Russian literature.
Throughout last decades motives began to actively correlate with individual creative experience, be considered
as the property of individual writers and works. This, in particular, is evidenced by the experience of studying the poetry of M.Yu. Lermontov.
Attention to the motives hidden in literary works allows us to understand them more fully and deeply. Thus, some “peak” moments of the embodiment of the author’s concept in famous story I.A. Bunin about a life suddenly cut short charming girl are " easy breathing"(the phrase that became the title), lightness as such, as well as the repeatedly mentioned cold. These deeply interconnected motifs turn out to be perhaps the most important compositional “strings” of Bunin’s masterpiece and, at the same time, an expression of the writer’s philosophical idea of the existence and place of man in it. The cold accompanies Olya Meshcherskaya not only in winter, but also in summer; it also reigns in the episodes framing the plot, depicting a cemetery in early spring. These motifs are combined in the last phrase of the story: “Now this light breath has again dissipated in the world, in this cloudy sky, in this cold spring wind.”
One of the motifs of Tolstoy’s epic novel “War and Peace” is spiritual softness, often associated with feelings of gratitude and submission to fate, with tenderness and tears, but most importantly, it marks certain higher, illuminating moments in the lives of the heroes. Let us remember the episodes when the old Prince Volkonsky learns about the death of his daughter-in-law; wounded Prince Andrei in Mytishchi. After a conversation with Natasha, who feels irreparably guilty before Prince Andrei, Pierre experiences some special elation. And here it speaks of his, Pierre’s, “blossomed to a new life, softened and encouraged soul.” And after captivity, Bezukhov asks Natasha about the last days of Andrei Bolkonsky: “So has he calmed down? Have you softened up?
Perhaps the central motif of “The Master and Margarita” by M.A. Bulgakov - the light emanating from the full moon, disturbing, exciting, painful. This light somehow “affects” a number of characters in the novel. It is associated primarily with the idea of torment of conscience - with the appearance and fate of Pontius Pilate, who was afraid for his “career”.
Lyric poetry is characterized by verbal motives. A.A. Blok wrote: “Every poem is a veil, stretched on the edges of several words. These words shine like stars. Because of them the poem exists." Thus, in Blok’s poem “Worlds Fly” (1912) the supporting (key) words are flight, aimless and mad; the accompanying ringing, intrusive and buzzing; tired, a soul immersed in darkness; and (in contrast to all this) the unattainable, vainly beckoning happiness.
In Blok’s “Carmen” cycle, the word “treason” serves as a motive. This word captures the poetic and at the same time tragic element of the soul. The world of betrayal here is associated with the “storm of gypsy passions” and leaving the homeland, coupled with an inexplicable feeling of sadness, the “black and wild fate” of the poet, and instead with the charm of boundless freedom, free flight “without orbits”: “This is music secret betrayals?/Is this the heart captured by Carmen?”
Note that the term “motive” is also used in a different meaning than the one on which we rely. Thus, themes and problems of a writer’s work are often called motives (for example, the moral rebirth of man; the illogical existence of people). In modern literary criticism, there is also the idea of a motive as an “extrastructural” beginning - 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, says B.M. Gasparov, “grow anew every time, in the process of analysis itself” - depending on what contexts of the writer’s work the scientist turns to. Thus understood, the motive is conceptualized as the “basic unit of analysis,” an analysis that “fundamentally abandons the concept of fixed blocks of structure that objectively have given function in the construction of the text." A similar approach to literature, as noted by M.L. Gasparov, allowed A.K. Zholkovsky in the book “Wandering Dreams” to offer readers a number of “brilliant and paradoxical interpretations of Pushkin through Brodsky and Gogol through Sokolov.”
But no matter what semantic tones are attached to the word “motive” in literary criticism, the irrevocable significance and genuine relevance of this term, which captures the really (objectively) existing facet of literary works, remains self-evident.
Cm.: Kholopova V. A. Musical theme. M., 1983.
Putilov B.N. Veselovsky and the problems of folklore motive//The legacy of Alexander Veselovsky: Research and materials. St. Petersburg, 1992. P. 84.
Cm.: Veselovsky A.N.. Historical poetics. P. 301.
Veselovsky A.N.. Historical poetics. P. 40.
See: From plot to motive. Novosibirsk, 1996; Plot and motive in the context of tradition. Novosibirsk, 1998; Tyupa V.I.. Abstracts for the project of a dictionary of motives//Discourse. No. 2. Novosibirsk, 1996.
See articles under the heading “Motives” in: Lermontov Encyclopedia. M., 1981.
Blok A.A. Notebooks. 1901–1920. P. 84.
Gasparov B.M.. Literary leitmotifs. M., 1994. P. 301.
Gasparov M.L. Preface// Zholkovsky A.K., Shcheglov Yu.K.. Works on the poetics of expressiveness. S. 5.