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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.
A theme is usually defined as a message, statement, or idea, while a motif is simply a detail repeated for larger symbolic meaning. In other words, a narrative motif—a detail repeated in a pattern of meaning—can produce a theme; but it can also create other narrative aspects.
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]
Modernist literature originated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and is characterised by a self-conscious separation from traditional ways of writing in both poetry and prose fiction writing. Modernism experimented with literary form and expression, as exemplified by Ezra Pound's maxim to "Make it new". [1]
Postmodern literature is a form ... but with postmodernism playfulness becomes central and the actual achievement of order and meaning ... Several themes and ...
The themes in the writings of Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky (frequently transliterated as "Dostoyevsky"), which consist of novels, novellas, short stories, essays, epistolary novels, poetry, [1] spy fiction [2] and suspense, [3] include suicide, poverty, human manipulation, and morality.
One of the most well-known canonical examples of escapist literature is Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. This work of escapist fiction describes characters in an entirely new, fictional universe complete with its own history and languages. Tolkien explores the themes of right and wrong, and emphasises the significance of small acts of bravery.
Literary theory is the systematic study of the nature of literature and of the methods for literary analysis. [1] Since the 19th century, literary scholarship includes literary theory and considerations of intellectual history, moral philosophy, social philosophy, and interdisciplinary themes relevant to how people interpret meaning. [1]