Εξαιρετικό το εύρημά σου, σαφέστατο, γι' αυτό το αντιγράφω εδώ (με δικά μου έντονα):
Repeated Narrative and Plot Types.
In the last class we discussed how certain plots repeat throughout literature, and are common as a motif, even up until today. I discussed primarily the narrative of the journey and the quest. This is one of the most popular “masterplots” in literature. Particularly in a knight’s romance, like Sir Gawain, the journey and the quest is essential. Gawain journeys beyond Camelot in quest of the Green Knight. In most journey and quest narratives, the protagonist — after a series of encounters, trials, and hardships — returns home, having gained some sort of knowledge about his / her self and the world. It is important to note that as literature grows more modern, particular literature into the twentieth century, the journey and / or return home is usually negative, degenerate, pessimistic. For example, in most of the narratives in which a soldier leaves home for war in the 1900s (WWI, WWII, Viet Nam, etc.), his / her return is usually dark, as in Hemingway’s soldiers who feel a sense of hopelessness and betrayal.
Masterplot
Masterplot is a term used by literary studies to describe any deep, underlying narrative structure that has repeated over a long period of time and in many different literary pieces. Masterplots can be simple to complex. For instance, there are many stories with the masterplot of a young boy who experiences something that serves as an initiation into adulthood.
Many masterplots derive from sweeping social /political / religious world-views passed down through the centuries. American literature developed the fairly new masterplot in the 1800s of the individual who can accomplish anything. This has come in literature to be known as the “Horatio Alger” story: the idea that, even if you are dirt poor and have seemingly no hope of a better future, through hard work and luck you can become a millionaire, or a leader, or somehow famous and anointed. Barak Obama, in many ways, has stirred the imagination of America because of the masterplot that, in this country, anyone can become president.
In the Middle Ages up through the Renaissance, almost all of the masterplots have a Judeo-Christian context. Many of the Christian masterplots remain strong in literature today, although in more secularly disguised forms. The many narratives of the Old and New Testaments have inspired and perpetuated variations of their stories. For instance, notice in class how a student pointed out that Gawain’s encounter with the Green Knight in the beginning of the poem resembles the story of David and Goliath.
Έχουμε λοιπόν έναν
κυρίαρχο αφηγηματικό μύθο με την αριστοτελική σημασία του όρου, βλ. και
plot. Αλλά επειδή ο
κυρίαρχος μύθος μπορεί να μας πάει αλλού, το θέλει το «αφηγηματικό» (άλλωστε και ο Brooks για το
récit δίνει σαν αγγλικό το
narrative plot). Το «κυρίαρχο μοτίβο» (motif: an important and sometimes recurring theme or idea in a work of literature) μπερδεύει την επανάληψη μέσα σε ένα έργο με την επανάληψη μέσα σε ένα σώμα έργων. Έχουμε λοιπόν τον παραπάνω όρο με τον
μύθο, με το «
κυρίαρχο θέμα» σαν πολύ πιο συνηθισμένο όρο, αλλά όχι αντίστοιχο.
