In contemporaryliterary studies, atheme is a centraltopic, subject, or message within anarrative.[1] Themes can be divided into two categories: a work'sthematic concept is what readers "think the work is about" and itsthematic statement being "what the work says about the subject".[2]
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 singleabstract noun (for example, love, death, betrayal, patriotism, or parenthood) ornoun phrase (for example,coming of age, grief during wartime, or the importance of community).[3] Typical examples of themes of this type areconflict between the individual and society; coming of age; humans in conflict with technology;nostalgia; and the dangers of unchecked ambition.[4] 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 inJohn Steinbeck'sOf Mice and Men, wherein many of the characters seem to be lonely. It may differ from thethesis—the text's or author's implied worldview.[5][example needed]
A story may have several themes. Themes often explore historically common or cross-culturally recognizable ideas, such asethical questions, and are usually implied rather than stated explicitly.[6] 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 inAldous Huxley'sBrave New World. Along withplot,character,setting, andstyle, theme is considered one of thecomponents offiction.[7]
Some common themes in literature are love, war, revenge, betrayal,[8] grace, isolation, parenthood, forgiveness, loss,[9]treachery, rich versus poor, appearance versus reality, and help from otherworldly powers.[10]
Varioustechniques may be used to express literary themes.
Leitwortstil, which means "leading word style" in German,[11] is the repetition of a wording, often with a theme, in a narrative to make sure it catches the reader's attention.[12] An example of a leitwortstil is the recurring phrase, "So it goes", inKurt Vonnegut's novelSlaughterhouse-Five. Its seeming message is that the world isdeterministic: 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, thatthings could have been different. Its use in Scheherazade'sArabian Nights demonstrates how the technique can result to the unification of the constituent members of story cycles.[11] In theBible, various forms of the verb "to see" also recur and underscore the idea ofAbraham as a seer.[13] There is also the repeated use of the rootkbd inSamuel I, to indicate "weightiness, honor, glory".[14]
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.[15] 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.[original research?]
Thematic patterning means the insertion of a recurring motif in a narrative.[16] For example, various scenes inJohn Steinbeck'sOf Mice and Men are about loneliness.[17] Thematic patterning is evident inOne Thousand and One Nights,[18] 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".[19] 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".[19]
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