Subject (literature)

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In English-language literary studies, a topic (also known as Main Idea ) is the basic and guiding principle of a text. The subject applies where - in addition to action , characters , scene and style - as a fundamental component of literary fiction .

In German-language literary studies, where the focus is more on subjects and motifs , the term has not been able to establish itself. Occasionally, however, the related term “ subject ” is used here.

Demarcation

Gerald Prince ( A Dictionary of Narratology , 1988, p. 111) establishes a fundamental relationship between subject and frame in literature by assigning a frame function to the literary subject.

Literary themes differ from literary motifs primarily through their higher level of abstraction or the lack of more concrete forms of manifestation. Literary topics are, for example, love , incest , power , the Holocaust , revenge or death .

However, the use of literary studies or literary critical language is not very uniform in this regard; For example, MH Abrams ( A Glossary of Literary Terms , 1988) takes the view that the terms motif and topic are often used with the same meaning, although, according to Jeremy Hawthorne, it would be more beneficial to use the term topic more in the sense of a general demand or a doctrine to understand.

In narrative theory , the term “ thematics ” appears in more recent publications , which is sometimes also used as a synonym . The topic is mainly produced and modified by the narrative technique , so it relates more to the end product of a narrative in the sense of a sum of all the questions raised, to which only a few answers may be given. The subject does not necessarily depend on the conscious or unconscious intention of the author.

Position in the American school curriculum

In the United States , the literary subject or main idea is one of the central subjects of instruction for developing native reading literacy . In the Middle School and the upper grades of elementary schools this concept was already widespread in the 1980s; Since the 2000s, Main Idea has also been increasingly taught in the lower grades of elementary schools (in New York, for example, currently from grade 1). The idea behind this teaching concept is that texts can only be understood if the reader learns to distinguish between details and the “bigger idea” that results from the sum of these details.

example

literature

  • Paula Kay Montgomery: Approaches to Literature Through Theme. Oryx, 1992, ISBN 0-89774-772-0 .
  • Bernhard Asmuth: Subject. In: Historical dictionary of rhetoric , ed. von Gert Ueding, Vol. 9, Niemeyer, Tübingen 2009, Sp. 528-541, ISBN 978-3-484-68109-5 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Gero von Wilpert : Subject dictionary of literature (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 231). 6th, improved and enlarged edition. Kröner, Stuttgart 1979, ISBN 3-520-23106-9 .
  2. ^ Jeremy Hawthorne: Subject and Subject . In: Jeremy Hawthorne: Basic Concepts of Modern Literary Theory · A Handbook . Translated by Waltraud Korb. Francke Verlag, Tübingen and Basel 1994, ISBN 3-8252-1756-6 , p. 324f.
  3. ^ Jeremy Hawthorne: Subject and Subject . In: Jeremy Hawthorne: Basic Concepts of Modern Literary Theory · A Handbook . Translated by Waltraud Korb. Francke Verlag, Tübingen and Basel 1994, ISBN 3-8252-1756-6 , p. 324f.
  4. ^ Jeremy Hawthorne: Subject and Subject . In: Jeremy Hawthorne: Basic Concepts of Modern Literary Theory · A Handbook . Translated by Waltraud Korb. Francke Verlag, Tübingen and Basel 1994, ISBN 3-8252-1756-6 , p. 324f.
  5. ↑ James F. Baumann: Teaching Main Idea Comprehension , International Reading Association, 1986, ISBN 0-87207-968-6 ; Finish Line Comprehension Skills: Understanding Main Idea and Details , Continental Press, 2008, ISBN 0-8454-4090-X .