The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell StoriesBloomsbury Publishing, 11.11.2005 - 736 Seiten This remarkable and monumental book at last provides a comprehensive answer to the age-old riddle of whether there are only a small number of 'basic stories' in the world. Using a wealth of examples, from ancient myths and folk tales via the plays and novels of great literature to the popular movies and TV soap operas of today, it shows that there are seven archetypal themes which recur throughout every kind of storytelling. But this is only the prelude to an investigation into how and why we are 'programmed' to imagine stories in these ways, and how they relate to the inmost patterns of human psychology. Drawing on a vast array of examples, from Proust to detective stories, from the Marquis de Sade to E.T., Christopher Booker then leads us through the extraordinary changes in the nature of storytelling over the past 200 years, and why so many stories have 'lost the plot' by losing touch with their underlying archetypal purpose. Booker analyses why evolution has given us the need to tell stories and illustrates how storytelling has provided a uniquely revealing mirror to mankind's psychological development over the past 5000 years. This seminal book opens up in an entirely new way our understanding of the real purpose storytelling plays in our lives, and will be a talking point for years to come. |
Im Buch
Ergebnisse 1-5 von 78
Seite 4
... discovers that he can fly ; Faust is given access by the devil to all sorts of magical experiences . But gradually the mood of the story darkens . The hero experiences an increasing sense of frustration . There is some- thing about the ...
... discovers that he can fly ; Faust is given access by the devil to all sorts of magical experiences . But gradually the mood of the story darkens . The hero experiences an increasing sense of frustration . There is some- thing about the ...
Seite 22
... discover at the top a new world , where he enters a mysterious castle belonging to a terrify- ing and bloodthirsty giant . After progressively enraging this monstrous figure by three successive visits , each time managing to steal a ...
... discover at the top a new world , where he enters a mysterious castle belonging to a terrify- ing and bloodthirsty giant . After progressively enraging this monstrous figure by three successive visits , each time managing to steal a ...
Seite 25
... discover 'the beauteous battle-maiden' Brynhild, lying asleep on a mountain top, guarded by a ring of magic flames which only 'the true hero' can enter; and it is the treasures and the secret knowledge he has won from his victory over ...
... discover 'the beauteous battle-maiden' Brynhild, lying asleep on a mountain top, guarded by a ring of magic flames which only 'the true hero' can enter; and it is the treasures and the secret knowledge he has won from his victory over ...
Seite 27
... discovers that he is trapped by a man who can crawl face downwards on the castle wall by moonlight ; whom he finds one day lying as if dead , ' bloated ' with blood , ' like a filthy leech , exhausted with his reple- tion ' ; who seems ...
... discovers that he is trapped by a man who can crawl face downwards on the castle wall by moonlight ; whom he finds one day lying as if dead , ' bloated ' with blood , ' like a filthy leech , exhausted with his reple- tion ' ; who seems ...
Seite
... discover at the top a new world, where he enters a mysterious castle belonging to a terrifying and bloodthirsty giant. After progressively enraging this monstrous figure by three successive visits, each time managing to steal a golden ...
... discover at the top a new world, where he enters a mysterious castle belonging to a terrifying and bloodthirsty giant. After progressively enraging this monstrous figure by three successive visits, each time managing to steal a golden ...
Inhalt
1 | |
15 | |
THE COMPLETE HAPPY ENDING | 237 |
MISSING THE MARK | 345 |
WHY WE TELL STORIES | 541 |
The Light and the Shadows on the Wall | 699 |
Authors Personal Note | 703 |
Glossary of Terms | 707 |
Bibliography | 711 |
Index of Stories Cited | 715 |
General Index | 720 |
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Häufige Begriffe und Wortgruppen
Aladdin Amleth anima Anna Karenina archetypal arrives beautiful become begins central figure centre century characters Comedy comes complete consciousness Creon Dark Father dark feminine dark figure dark masculine dark power Dark Rival death developed Don Giovanni Dream Stage egocentric egotism emerge eventually everything familiar fantasy film finally girl goal Hamlet happens happy ending heart hero and heroine hero or heroine human imagination inner James Bond Jane Eyre journey killed king kingdom liberated light lives look Macbeth married Moby Dick mother murder mysterious nature Nightmare Stage novel obsession Odysseus Oedipus ordeals Overcoming the Monster pattern play plot Princess Quest Rags to Riches realise recognise represents role seems seen sense shadow storytelling symbolic symbolised Teiresias tells Theseus thing Tragedy transformation true turn type of story ultimately uncon unconscious values Voyage and Return whole wife Wise Old woman young