Epeisodion
Epeisodion (Gr. Epeisódion , to be added ') was a part of the ancient Greek drama with spoken dialogues by the actors, which was inserted between two choirs .
As dialogue became more and more important, the meaning evolved into "subplot". The German word episode was borrowed in the 18th century from the French épisode , which goes back to epeisódion .
The term 'episode', which has been adopted into New German from modern English-language radio and television marketing, can be classified as 'incoherent' based on the ancient Greek meaning, in the sense that z. B. the 'episode' of a television , novel or radio play series is part of a parent. In principle, however, it can do without a previous or following 'episode', is self-contained and often only represents an aesthetic stimulus or side scene of the various parts that hold the series together across the board (the series hero, recurring characters or situations). However, the relationship here does not consist in a sequentially unfolded structure, but in a rather unordered, accumulative one. The 'episode' represents the individual case, the series the superordinate, always identical.
The series format, so to speak, declares the entire series, i.e. 100% of its material, to be 'episodic' from the outset (see, on the other hand, the ancient Greek meaning), thus basically getting rid of the claim to fulfill a superordinate 'drama' form any format that can be continued. Everything in it functions formally only as a 'casual episode'.
The term 'episode' with this special meaning applies particularly to those series formats where episodes can even be received in any order (e.g. Columbo , Simpsons , etc.), whereas the term 'episode' the more accumulative the series format is structured, the more the intended aesthetic stimulus depends on the complete and correct sequence (e.g. Dallas , Twin Peaks , Sopranos , etc.), the more the 'series 'So it tends to be sequential.
References and footnotes
- ^ Paragraph according to Kluge Etymological Dictionary of the German Language , 24th edition, 2002, Lemma Episode