Motif "refers to a theme, character, storyline or word pattern that appears repeatedly in a literary work and becomes a meaningful clue that helps unify the entire work. It may also be an image or 'Prototype', due to its repeated appearance, gives the whole work a context and strengthens it. "This is to confuse and equate motifs with images, prototypes, etc." And some people insist on Jung's "archetype" theory. On the one hand, they try to distinguish the relationship between motifs and themes, motifs and images, archetypes and even formulas. On the other hand, all these are intertwined. It can even be said that "motifs" "It is the theme", "The theme is the prototype", "The theme is the symbol", "The theme is the image", making this kind of thematic research or motif research a hodgepodge.
In specific literary research, some scholars define motifs as common themes, but more often, they regard motifs as the same word as the theme. Some say: "The cultural themes of novel creation are the artistic expression of the cultural themes of the times. Every nation has different cultural themes at different historical stages." (Wu Yumin's "On the Motifs and Culture of Novels in the New Era" Values", "Novel Review", Issue 5, 1988) Some said: "The theme is the eternal theme of literature." (Tan Guilin "On Motif Analysis in the Study of Novel", "Hunan Normal University Society" Journal of Science, Volume 30, Issue 6) It is not advisable to include motif research into theme research, as it will definitely lead to confusion between the two concepts.
The "motif" is mainly derived from folk literature and folklore research, and it is introduced from abroad. Thompson's "Folk Literature Motif Index" extensively collects oral myths, legends, stories and narrative poems, and extracts more than 20,000 motifs (*** there are 23,500 numbers, but there are gaps left to be added). Arranged according to twenty-three categories. He gave an authoritative explanation of motifs and the relationship between motifs and types: "A motif is the smallest component of a story that can persist in tradition. For this to be the case, it must have something unusual and moving. The power of "" (Thompson's "World Folktale Taxonomy" Chinese version, page 499) I think there is a contradiction in Thompson's definition of "motif". The characters in the story and "some background involved in the plot - magic artifacts, unusual customs, strange beliefs" can be said to be the smallest components of the story, but the "single event" itself includes more How can the story element be said to be the smallest element in the story, let alone "it encompasses most of the motifs". In this way, the vast majority of motifs are not the smallest elements in the story, which means that most motifs are not motifs. Obviously there is a problem with this definition. In fact, "characters in the story" and "some background involved in the plot" are also closely connected to a specific story, and it also represents a story. In this case, shouldn't it be more appropriate to simply say that a motif refers to a short story that is very closely integrated?
In specific folklore and mythology research, people are also exploring new definitions. The concept of "motif" in comparative mythology is expressed as: "Motifs are the basic elements that constitute mythological works. These elements exist independently in the tradition and are constantly reproduced. Their number is limited, but they can be transformed through different arrangements and combinations. He has produced countless works and can be combined into other literary genres and cultural forms. The motif expresses the collective consciousness of the human community (clan, nation, country and even all mankind), and often becomes the cultural logo of a social group." . This definition is derived from Thompson's definition, but adds some content. One of the added parts is to equate the motif with the prototype: "The motif expresses the collective consciousness of the human body (clan, nation, country and even all mankind), and often becomes the cultural identity of a social group. ". Second, it connects the motif with other literary genres and cultural forms, increasing the scope of the motif. This kind of expansion is possible in theory, but it seems a bit empty without practical research as a basis. Third, changing Thompson’s “minimal component” to “basic element” is of little significance and not specific. (Chen Jianxian, "On the Concept of "Motif" in Comparative Mythology," Journal of Central China Normal University (Humanities and Social Sciences Edition), Volume 39, Issue 1).
"Motif" is used in a wider range of literary research, whether it is comparative literature or national literature research. The key point is narrative research, which has some structural characteristics, so it is used in This must be kept in mind when defining. Sun Wenxian paid attention to this point. He discussed motif analysis from the perspective of literary criticism and pointed out: "Folklorists use motifs to refer to a recurring factor related to narrative typing characteristics in order to reveal and A term formed to describe the existence of various typing phenomena in folk narrative works,... This shows that the theme research of folklore is a microscopic study of plot structure or narrative composition. People try to analyze the theme research related to narrative typing. problem, identify and grasp the laws of the spread and evolution of folk narrative texts," and said, "Although the specific connotations of motifs vary in different theories, there is one basic feature that is common to all motif phenomena. , which is also the basis for researchers to identify and grasp motifs, that is, motifs must appear repeatedly in different texts in a typed structure or stylized form of speech; they must have something unchanging and can be understood by others. The structural form or linguistic form of recognition is an important feature of the motif.
Russian formalism and structuralist narratology discovered and revealed the characteristics of this formal structure based on the research on folk literature motifs, thus deepening the research on motifs. ” (Sun Wenxian, “Motif Analysis as Structural Form—Language Criticism Methodology Part 2,” Journal of Central China Normal University (Humanities and Social Sciences Edition), Volume 40, Issue 6) This definition has obviously been greatly improved. , the motif can be clearly distinguished from the prototype, image, theme, etc., but it is too formal and pays too little attention to the content.
Since various "motif" concepts have shortcomings, So how to define "motif"? I think we can learn from the above definitions, especially based on Thompson's definition of "motif" and his actual research, that is, by making up for the contradictions in his definition. A more appropriate definition of "motif" can be drawn: "motif" is the smallest event that is very closely integrated in a narrative work. It continues to exist in the tradition and can arouse people's various associations. It is a complete story. , can exist independently by itself, or can be combined with other stories to create new stories.
The three major themes of children's literature are: the theme of love, the theme of naughty children and the theme of nature.
1. The theme of love
It can be divided into two types: maternal love and paternal love. Modern maternal love children’s literature works are “bringing their own rich life experience. "To convey love, it adopts a form of expression that is extremely suitable for children's tastes, focuses on the "sublimation of aesthetic emotions" in aesthetics, and is "kind and warm" in terms of emotional tone. The biggest feature of father-loving children's literature is " "Facing life directly", it looks at and deals with the problems in life from a realistic and profound perspective. Father-loving children's literature conveys a "dignified and profound" artistic atmosphere.
2. Natural Motif
p>This type of children's literature will undoubtedly make people rethink the position of human beings in nature, and children can marvel at the mystery and greatness of nature and inspire the passion to explore nature. "The artistic atmosphere of ". Animal novels, nature literature, environmental literature, landscape poetry and prose mostly belong to natural themes.
3. Naughty child motif
Children's literature with naughty child motif The works point to children's innate desire for freedom and yearning for unrestrained nature. This type of children's works focus on children's free development, which is usually expressed in novel artistic images and twists and turns, such as the Swedish writer Lin. Glenn's "Pippi Longstocking" trilogy and "Karlsson the Little Flyer" trilogy are typical works of this type. Children's literature with naughty themes conveys a "strange and wild" artistic atmosphere.
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