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Ernst Robert Curtius studied topoi as "commonplaces", themes common to orators and writers who re-worked them according to occasion, e.g., in classical antiquity the observation that "all must die" was a topos in consolatory oratory, for in facing death the knowledge that death comes even to great men brings comfort. [2]
In contemporary literary studies, a theme is a central topic, subject, or message within a narrative. [1] Themes can be divided into two categories: a work's thematic concept is what readers "think the work is about" and its thematic statement being "what the work says about the subject". [2] Themes are often distinguished from premises.
Narrative identity has been explored in the stories of incarcerated individuals. For example, narratives have been used to understand the conversion experience among prisoners. [55] Through these narratives, prisoner converts have been able to integrate their negative self (the one who committed the crime) into their larger sense of self.
Angelou's theme of identity was established from the beginning of her autobiographies, with the opening lines in Caged Bird, and like other female writers in the late 1960s and early 1970s, she used the autobiography to reimagine ways of writing about women's lives and identities in a male-dominated society. Her original goal was to write about ...
Identification is a key concept in psychoanalytic literary criticism. [9] Drawing upon the large body of psychoanalytic theory, Merav Roth identified seven forms of identification which can occur whilst reading literature. [3]
Sensation novelists drew on the influences of melodrama, Gothicism, and the Newgate novel to explore themes considered provocative by societal norms and to question the artificiality of identity. In the 1860s, the sensation novels and theatre became closely intertwined; many of the famous sensation novelists wrote as well for the stage. [ 3 ]
Penelope questions Odysseus to prove his identity. Another theme throughout the Odyssey is testing. [38] This occurs in two distinct ways. Odysseus tests the loyalty of others and others test Odysseus' identity. An example of Odysseus testing the loyalties of others is when he returns home. [38]
The journey of Odysseus presented in Homer's Odyssey is a quintessential example of nostos in Ancient Greek literature. Nostos (Ancient Greek: νόστος) is a theme used in Ancient Greek literature, which includes an epic hero returning home, often by sea. In Ancient Greek society, it was deemed a high level of heroism or greatness for those ...