Motto (literature)
A motto (from Latin onomatopoeic : muttum = murmur, grunt) is usually a concise central theme that is placed before a larger font.
Similar to the motto of a person, the motto should outline the goal and aspiration of the following work. A motto or several mottos can be placed in front of the work as a whole or individual parts, e.g. chapters. Quotations from literary or scientific authorities are often used.
history
Mottos are a relatively modern literary phenomenon, but mottos and author's endorsements, which are considered their forerunners, were already widespread in the Middle Ages. At first found mainly in scientific works and otherwise only rarely represented, they found increasing popularity at the end of the 18th century. The trigger for this is their frequent use in the English horror literature of this time, whereby this fashion spread in many countries , among other things through the great success of Walter Scott's historical novels . Romantic works in particular often made use of mottos, while they were rarely used in realism .
Examples
Karl Philipp Moritz , Andreas Hartknopf , Roman. Motto: "The letter kills, but the spirit gives life" ( 2 Corinthians, 3,6 )
Arthur Schopenhauer , aphorisms on wisdom , motto: "Happiness is not an easy thing: it is very difficult to find it in ourselves, and impossible to find it elsewhere." ( Nicolas Chamfort )
Hermann Hesse , spa guest , story. Motto: "Idleness is the beginning of all psychology." ( Friedrich Nietzsche )
Peter Handke , Desireless Misfortune , story. Mottos: "He not busy being born is busy dying" ( Bob Dylan ) - "Dusk was falling quickly. It was just after 7 pm, and the month was October. "( Patricia Highsmith )
literature
- Jan Erik Antonsen: Text islands. Studies on the motto in German literature from the 17th to the 20th century. Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 1998, ISBN 3-8260-1471-5 .
- Rudolf Böhm: The Motto in 19th Century English Literature. Fink Verlag, Munich 1975.
- Gérard Genette : Paratexts. The book about the accessories of the book. Campus, Frankfurt am Main / New York 1989, ISBN 3-593-34061-5 ; Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main 2001, ISBN 3-518-29110-6 , pp. 141-156.
- Krista Segermann: The motto in the lyric. Function and form of the "épigraphe" before poems of the French Romanticism and the post-Romantic period . Fink Verlag, Munich 1977, ISBN 3-7705-0876-9 .
- Daniel Kampa: Motto catcher. A collection of prominent quotes . Diogenes, Zurich 2011, ISBN 978-3-257-79726-8 .