Kishōtenketsu
Kishōtenketsu ( Japanese 起 承 転 結 ) describes a rhetorical and narrative structure in Japanese works (essays, scientific texts, novels, manga , computer games and films).
It has its origin in the Jueju , four-part poems of classical Chinese literature . In Chinese , such a structure is called qǐ chéng zhuǎn hé ( Chinese 起 承 轉 合 / 起 承 转 合 ).
description
Kishōtenketsu describes a structure made up of four mental sections:
- Ki , the introduction as a representation of the topic,
- Shō , the development to continue the theme,
- Ten , the turn as a surprising element that has only an indirect reference or a connection with the topic,
- Ketsu , the conclusion that brings all the elements together and draws a conclusion.
In Japanese rhetoric, this means that the core thesis is only mentioned at the end, the speaker's intention is presented with a delay, bits of information appear in between that have only loosely to do with the general topic and the concluding word is at the end of a chain of statements that do not strictly follow one direction. John Hinds called this a quasi- inductive discourse.
As a narrative structure, this corresponds first to the introduction of the characters, place and time of the plot, then the development of the plot, a turn in which the previous events are presented in a new light and allow the reader / viewer to reconsider their perspective, and finally the merging of the individual threads and ideas in a mostly open end.
example
As a simple example of the four phases of Kishōtenketsu , the following folk song ( 俗 謡 , sokuyō ) is often given by Rai San'yō :
| Kanji | transcription | translation |
|---|---|---|
| 大阪 本 町 糸 屋 の 娘 | Osaka Honmachi itoya no musume | The daughters of a yarn merchant live in Honmachi in Osaka, |
| 姉 は 十六 妹 は 十五 | ane wa jūroku, imōto wa jūgo. | the older one is 16, the younger 15. |
| 諸国 大名 は 弓矢 で 殺 す | Shokoku daimyō wa yumiya de korosu. | The princes of the countries kill with bows and arrows. |
| 糸 屋 の 娘 は 目 で 殺 す | Itoya no musume wa me de korosu. | The yarn merchant's daughters kill with their eyes. |
The first verse, Ki , introduces the yarn merchant's daughters as a theme, and then the second verse, Shō , provides details about both of them. The third verse, Ten , then wanders into an area that appears to be unrelated to the topic. The conclusion and the core message of the text then follows in the fourth stanza, Ketsu , which shows that the daughters seduce men with their eyes, just like the princes' custom of killing people.
literature
- Senko K. Maynard: Linguistic Emotivity: Centrality of Place, The Topic-Comment Dynamic, and an Ideology of Pathos in Japanese Discourse . John Benjamin, 2002, ISBN 90-272-5117-7 , pp. 338–346 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
- Yoshiko Satō: Characteristics of Rhetorical Use by Japanese Learners of English . In: Journal of Chugoku Junior College / 中国 短期 大学 紀要 . Vol. 31, 2000, pp. 323-333 ( full text ).
See also
- Jo-ha-kyū ("Beginning - Break - Fast"), three-part breakdown in Japanese art
Web links
Notes and individual references
- ↑ 久 世 み ず き の 、 マ ン ガ の 作 り 方 . (No longer available online.) In: 【ぷ ら ち な】 『電 脳 コ イ ル THE COMICS』 . December 18, 2007, archived from the original on July 4, 2010 ; Retrieved December 31, 2011 (Japanese, interview with Mizuki Kuze ). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Tom Phillips: Nintendo's "kishōtenketsu" Mario level design philosophy explained. In: Eurogamer.net. March 17, 2015, accessed April 27, 2015 .
- ↑ a b Kishōtenketsu - Narrative Structures. In: Using Narrative Structures to Inspire Writing for Digital Media Assignments. University of Wisconsin, accessed April 27, 2015 .
- ↑ Maynard, p. 338.
- ↑ There are several versions of the text with different location information (1st stanza), age information of the girls (2nd stanza) and choice of words (3rd and 4th stanza) see 起 承 転 結 「糸 屋 の 娘 は 目 で 殺 す」 . In: こ と ば 会議 室 . October 17, 2005, accessed November 13, 2011 (Japanese).
