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In contemporary literary studies, a theme is a central topic, subject, or message within a
narrative A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether nonfictional ( memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travelogue, etc.) or fictional ( fairy tale, fable, legend, thriller, novel, etc ...
. 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". Themes are often distinguished from premises. The most common contemporary understanding of theme is an idea or point that is central to a story, which can often be summed in a single word (for example, love, death, betrayal). Typical examples of themes of this type are conflict between the individual and society; coming of age; humans in conflict with technology; nostalgia; and the dangers of unchecked ambition. A theme may be exemplified by the actions, utterances, or thoughts of a character in a novel. An example of this would be the thematic idea of loneliness in John Steinbeck's '' Of Mice and Men'', wherein many of the characters seem to be lonely. It may differ from the
thesis A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144 ...
—the text's or author's implied worldview. A story may have several themes. Themes often explore historically common or cross-culturally recognizable ideas, such as ethical questions, and are usually implied rather than stated explicitly. An example of this would be whether one should live a seemingly better life, at the price of giving up parts of one's humanity, which is a theme in Aldous Huxley's '' Brave New World''. Along with plot,
character Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...
,
setting Setting may refer to: * A location (geography) where something is set * Set construction in theatrical scenery * Setting (narrative), the place and time in a work of narrative, especially fiction * Setting up to fail a manipulative technique to e ...
, and style, theme is considered one of the
components Circuit Component may refer to: •Are devices that perform functions when they are connected in a circuit.   In engineering, science, and technology Generic systems *System components, an entity with discrete structure, such as an assemb ...
of
fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a tradi ...
.


Techniques

Various techniques may be used to express literary themes.


Leitwortstil

''Leitwortstil,'' which means "leading word style" in German, is the repetition of a wording, often with a theme, in a narrative to make sure it catches the reader's attention. An example of a leitwortstil is the recurring phrase, "So it goes", in Kurt Vonnegut's novel '' Slaughterhouse-Five''. Its seeming message is that the world is
deterministic Determinism is a philosophical view, where all events are determined completely by previously existing causes. Deterministic theories throughout the history of philosophy have developed from diverse and sometimes overlapping motives and cons ...
: that things only could have happened in one way, and that the future already is predetermined. But given the anti-war tone of the story, the message perhaps is on the contrary, that ''things could have been different''. Its use in Scheherazade's ''
Arabian Nights ''One Thousand and One Nights'' ( ar, أَلْفُ لَيْلَةٍ وَلَيْلَةٌ, italic=yes, ) is a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as the ''Arabian ...
'' demonstrates how the technique can result to the unification of the constituent members of story cycles. In the
Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus ...
, various forms of the verb "to see" also recur and underscore the idea of
Abraham Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Je ...
as a seer. There is also the repeated use of the root ''kbd'' in Samuel I, to indicate "weightiness, honor, glory". In New Testament studies, a leitwortstil is called a verbal thread. David Rhoads, Joanna Dewey, and Donald Michie identify several verbal threads in their seminal narrative-critical study of the Gospel of Mark. For example, Mark ties together two disparate narratives with a verbal thread that forces the reader to search for connections between the narratives. The word for ripping or tearing (Greek: σχίζω, ''schizō'') is found at the baptism of Jesus in Mark 1:10 and at the rending of the temple veil in Mark 15:38.


Thematic patterning

''Thematic patterning'' means the insertion of a recurring motif in a narrative. For example, various scenes in John Steinbeck's '' Of Mice and Men'' are about loneliness. Thematic patterning is evident in ''One Thousand and One Nights'', an example being the story of "The City of Brass". According to David Pinault, the overarching theme of that tale, in which a group of travelers roam the desert in search of ancient brass artifacts, is that "riches and pomp tempt one away from God".Pinault, David. 1992. ''Story-telling techniques in the Arabian nights''. Leiden: Brill. p. 23. The narrative is interrupted several times by stories within the story. These include a tale recorded in an inscription found in the palace of Kush ibh Shaddad; a story told by a prisoner about Solomon; and an episode involving Queen Tadmur's corpse. According to Pinault, "each of these minor narratives introduces a character who confesses that he once proudly enjoyed worldly prosperity: subsequently, we learn, the given character has been brought low by God ... These minor tales ultimately reinforce the theme of the major narrative".


Examples

Some common themes in literature are "love," "war," "revenge," "betrayal," "patriotism," "grace," "isolation," "motherhood," "forgiveness," "wartime loss," " treachery," "rich versus poor," "appearance versus reality," and "help from other-worldly powers."


See also

* Literary element *
Moral A moral (from Latin ''morālis'') is a message that is conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a story or event. The moral may be left to the hearer, reader, or viewer to determine for themselves, or may be explicitly encapsulated in a maxim. ...
* Motif (narrative)


Notes


References

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Further reading

* Kerr, John (2022-07-06). "The 3 Essential Elements of Plot Every Writer Should Know".
Writer's Hive Media
'. Retrieved 2022-07-06. * Kittelstad, Kit. "Examples of Theme in Literature".

'. Retrieved 2022-07-06. {{Authority control Literary concepts Narrative units