People often read prefaces in books diagonally, or even simply skip them. But in vain! It is in this part of the book that you can find important information, which will make it easier to understand what is written in the main part.
Let's find out better what a preface is.
What do literary encyclopedias say?
What is the preface of a book? You need to contact relevant specialists with this question.
Literary scholars explain the concept in this way: it is a part of a literary text (artistic or scientific in nature) that precedes the main text. The author, as a rule, places in the preface the information that, in his opinion, will facilitate understanding of the text and provide important additional information.
In this part of the book, not only the author himself, but also the editor, publisher or other person related to the book can express his comments.
Why write a preface?
We have dealt with the question of what a preface is in literature. But why do authors write these introductory parts to their works? What are they for?
Often the reason for writing is a negative attitude towards the book from critics or the main audience of readers. An example is one of the editions of Turgenev’s novel “Smoke”.
From such samples, literary scholars can find out what the writer changed in the text, how his socio-political views were reflected in the novel.
The nihilists of the 60s of the century before last answered the question: “What is a preface?” - they would answer that this is a screen behind which they hide their true intentions.
Satirical prefaces
Answering the question of what a preface is, it is necessary to dwell in more detail on anti-nihilistic works. One of these texts was written by Dostoevsky for the works of Chernyshevsky. The satire of the famous conservative was associated with the views of the famous Russian democrat-revolutionary.
Of course, Dostoevsky's caustic words caused indignation among other writers. A few years later, the writer said that he was misunderstood because he himself had once been a convict and could not rejoice at the same grief of another person. Some critics were won over by these words.
Preface-manifestos
How else can you answer the question, what is a preface? “This is a literary manifesto!” - professionals can answer. And they will be right.
Some generally recognized literary geniuses were also pioneers of their style or continuers of tradition. A striking example- Hugo's preface to the play "Cromwell". It is in this text that we learn about romantic dramaturgy, its distinctive features and principles.
Editors' Prefaces
Modern editions classical works of bygone eras is rarely found without an introduction by the editor. What is the preface in this case? This is an explanatory text that gives an idea of the era in which the author lived and the dominant form of social consciousness in those times. From such prefaces we can get acquainted with the modern view of the problem, critical assessment works.
Dear readers! Here is the first dictionary on ethnopsychology in our country and abroad, which will undoubtedly interest you. Modern ethnopsychology is a young and rapidly progressing science. Its development was not always simple and unambiguous. Ethnographic Dictionary
preface
preface, preface, Wed
1. A section of a literary or scientific work, containing preliminary explanations and comments (by the author, editor, publisher), and an introduction to the text of the presentation. Preface to the study. Preface to the 2nd edition. « Final chapter"Eugene Onegin" was published separately, with the following preface..." Pushkin.
2. more often pl. Introductory messages and explanations before presenting the merits of the case, preim. in the expression: without preamble ( decomposition). Please, no preamble - get to the point. “Without preamble, let me introduce you to the hero of my novel right now.” Pushkin.
Ethnographic Dictionary
preface
Dear readers!
Here is the first ethnopsychology dictionary in our country and abroad, which will undoubtedly interest you.
Modern ethnopsychology is a young and rapidly progressing science. Its development was not always simple and unambiguous. Many branches of knowledge showed interest in it, which in their own way studied and comprehended the content of the national psyche of people. At the same time, the development of ethnopsychology has always been associated with the needs of practice and public life in our state; the need to reveal the actual psychological patterns of the formation and functioning of the phenomena that are its object; studying the characteristics of the manifestation of the mental makeup of specific peoples; harmonization of relations between people - representatives of different ethnic communities; with relieving tension and preventing conflicts arising on ethnic grounds.
Today, the task of ethnopsychology in our country is not only to explore and explain the differences that exist in the psyche, behavior, actions and actions of representatives various peoples And ethnic groups, to show the originality of their manifestation in the practice of interethnic relations, but also to develop recommendations for government bodies in order to carry out scientifically based national policies, harmonize communication and interaction between people on the basis of mutual understanding.
The formation of a young science involves the development and constant improvement of its categorical apparatus.
Knowledge and terms reflecting its content, accumulated in the previous period of development of ethnopsychology, now need to be adequately interpreted in order to avoid uncertainty or ambiguity in their use. That is why the main goal pursued by the team of authors working on the dictionary was a strict clarification of the semantic content of already known ones and the natural introduction into scientific use of new concepts that reflect the content and specificity of ethnopsychological phenomena and processes. The dictionary includes terminology and a system of concepts accepted in psychological science and explained from a psychological and pedagogical position.
A number of articles reveal the content of research methods and techniques, in our opinion, the most significant and important. The dictionary also describes the characteristics of the national psychology of representatives of ethnic communities living in Russia and some foreign countries1. The connection between articles is made through references to relevant terms.
At the same time, the dictionary is written in a lively and intelligible language. It does not include dry and insignificant terms and concepts, but information that is useful in all respects: this is both the history of the development of a young branch of knowledge, and interesting facts and phenomena, and very important information, presented for the first time in a generalized form.
Unfortunately, the dictionary included characteristics of the national psychological characteristics of only those ethnic communities that were studied by the team of authors.
(Krysko V.G. Ethnopsychological Dictionary. M.1999)
Dictionary of antonyms of the Russian language
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afterword
Ozhegov's Dictionary
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PREFACE ABOUT VIE, I, Wed Introductory article to which. essay.
Without (any) preface(colloquial) getting to the point of a matter or conversation immediately, without preliminary preparations or explanations.
Efremova's Dictionary
preface
Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron
preface
A note placed at the head of a book with the purpose of giving the reader a preliminary message about the composition of the publication, about its goals or plan, about its external or internal history, etc. P. speaks not so much about the content of the book as about it, and in this its difference from a similar form - an introduction, introducing the reader to the range of scientific data to which the proposed essay is adjacent. P. to poetic works were, and partly still remain, a popular form in French literature in which a writer presents his theoretical literary views. Known, for example, are P. Corneille, Racine (to “Britannicus” and “Iphigenia”), Moliere (to “Tartuffe”), Voltaire (to “Oedipus” and “Merope”), Beaumarchais, Dumas the Father (“Un mot "to Henry III), A. de Vigny ("Derni è re nuit de travail", to "Chatterton", etc.), the famous P. Victor Hugo to "Cromwell", playing the role of a manifesto of romanticism. In our classical literature examples include P. Lermontov for “A Hero of Our Time”, Dostoevsky for “Karamazov”.
Ar. G.
What is "PREFACE"? How to spell given word. Concept and interpretation.
PREFACE Preface PREFACE is an introductory article of critical, textual, historical, etc. content, prefaced by the book in order to inform the reader of certain information that, in the opinion of the author, editor or publisher, is necessary for better understanding the last one. In what follows we will only talk about P. to works of art. For literary studies highest value have author's P. Such P. is often like the author's commentary on the work. The negative attitude of readers towards the work forced the author to remake it and tell readers about his work in P. An example of this type of P. is the preface by I. S. Turgenev to a separate edition of his novel “Smoke” (1868). Similar P. represents great value for the researcher, since in it the author indicates what he did in the text of his story when republished. Such a P. is also valuable for understanding the socio-political position of the author in the corresponding era. Sometimes P. is a kind of “screen” that the author used to hide himself and his true intentions from those contemporaries for whom he wanted to remain unknown. Such poems were written, for example, in the era of the 60s. authors of “anti-nihilistic” (i.e., directed against revolutionary democracy) novels. This is how F. M. Dostoevsky supplied his satirical story about revolutionary democrats (Chernyshevsky and others) “Crocodile” (“Crocodile” (“Crocodile”)). Extraordinary event or passage within a passage”, “Epoch”, 1865, 2). Wanting to hide the direction of the satire against Chernyshevsky, a prisoner of tsarism, Dostoevsky wrote to P., in which he spoke of the surprise caused in the editorial office by such “ incredible story”, about disputes in the editorial office, about the “mystification” of the story, etc. However, the tip of the sting is left intact in this preface. The leaders of Sovremennik (Nekrasov and others) understood the meaning of the libel; it was clear and objectively helped the reaction. The researcher needs to be critical of this kind of “preface”, in particular of Dostoevsky, despite his attempt in 1873 to withdraw accusations of speaking out against Chernyshevsky. Dostoevsky’s explanation in “The Diary of a Writer” (1873) that he, “a former exile and convict, (could not) rejoice at the exile of another unfortunate,” bribed researcher A. Cheshikhin-Vetrinsky, who believed the author (for details, see the book by A.E. Cheshikhin-Vetrinsky "N. G. Chernyshevsky, 1828-1889", ed. "Kolos", 1923, p. 136). Of particular interest are those author's poems in which the writer sets out his literary credo, the literary concept he defends. Many of P. of this type, such as the prefaces of Beaumarchais and V. Hugo (to “Cromwell”) entered the history of literature as manifestos (see) of the corresponding literary movements. In Soviet publishing practice, P. were widely used. Historical and literary prefaces to Soviet editions of literary classics are aimed at giving a correct interpretation of the classic’s work for the modern reader, destroying the incorrect bourgeois assessments created in the past. In this kind of P., depending on the need, the printed history of the work is also covered, it is explained to the reader which works, why they were chosen and included in the publication, the plan and order of arrangement of the material, the principles of its processing, etc. P., identifying the author and the origin of the work, its socio-political meaning and significance in the history of literature are especially necessary in the publication of previously unknown materials (finished works, plans, letters, memoirs, etc.) extracted by editors from the writer’s literary archive.
PREFACE- a note placed at the head of a book with the purpose of giving the reader a preliminary information about the composition of the publication... Encyclopedic Dictionary F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Ephron
PREFACE- PREFACE, prefaces, cf. 1. A section of a literary or scientific work containing preliminary...
Based on materials from the book by Milchin, Cheltsova "Publisher and Author's Guide"
Preface to the book. Why is it needed?
A preface is an element of the pre-text apparatus of a publication that characterizes the work(s) published in the publication so that the reader has an interest in its topic and (or) content, so that he can better prepare for reading, can effectively, taking into account the characteristics of the work and publication work with him. This is a warning to the reader about the publication, the features of its content, construction, purpose, differences from other publications similar in topic and content. All this is so that the reader knows how better edition use, which should be taken into account when reading, studying or viewing it. M. V. Lomonosov in his “Rhetoric” defined the purpose of the preface as preparing the reader to read the work “inclinedly, diligently and understandably.”
Another, additional task of the preface in the book is to promote the publication, so that it finds as many readers and buyers as possible. After all, according to the preface, booksellers and librarians form an initial, and sometimes even basic, idea about the publication, based on which they can recommend it to readers.
M. V. Lomonosov in the already mentioned “Rhetoric” believed that the preface should, firstly, explain why the publication was undertaken, that is, show its purpose that is significant for readers; secondly, to characterize the topic and content as something important, necessary and useful for readers, that is, to show the significance of the content for them; thirdly, disclose in general outline the very essence of the content.
Preface - an integral part of the apparatus of Ch. arr. business publications: scientific, industrial, reference, educational, etc. It is rare in literary and artistic publications.
The purpose of the preface determines the range of issues that can form its content. Most often this is:
The significance of the topic and content of the published work (works);
Features of its content and form;
Literary and other sources;
Principles of material selection;
Construction principles;
Unsolved and unexplained problems with explanations;
Showing what new a work brings to literature, science, and practice;
Differences between the published work and others on the same or similar topic;
Showing the most valuable in the publication for the main. reader and adjacent groups;
Notice of what you need to keep in mind when working on the publication so that this work proceeds more productively;
Tips on how best to use the publication, make inquiries about it (a kind of search algorithm the required material, which is especially important in reference publications).
However, there shouldn’t be a template here. Each publication and its reader require an individual decision, although in some cases these decisions may overlap in some way.
The preface can be author's, editorial, or publishing. Sometimes it is ordered from a third-party specialist. This happens when, for example, a book is published posthumously or when the publishing house wants the book and its topic to be presented to the reader for greater persuasiveness by an authoritative person, a kind of guarantor of its quality.
The publication of the preface by the publisher or editor (edition) requires the consent of the author of the book in the same way as any editorial changes in it.