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 79
Seite 11
... example of the'Oedipal triangle', the perennial battle of the child to cope satisfactorily with the vast, overshadowing psychic presence of its parents, seemed to show a remarkable correspondence between an ancient myth and the ...
... example of the'Oedipal triangle', the perennial battle of the child to cope satisfactorily with the vast, overshadowing psychic presence of its parents, seemed to show a remarkable correspondence between an ancient myth and the ...
Seite 26
... example of the same variation is the story of Androcles (made the basis for Shaw's play Androcles and the Lion), who in the desert shows love to a fierce lion by pulling out a thorn from its paw. The resolution of the story comes years ...
... example of the same variation is the story of Androcles (made the basis for Shaw's play Androcles and the Lion), who in the desert shows love to a fierce lion by pulling out a thorn from its paw. The resolution of the story comes years ...
Seite 42
... example , to underline just how fundamental a pattern to storytelling this is , we may look at what became the most successful science fiction film ever pro- duced by Hollywood , George Lucas's original Star Wars ( 1977 ) . The story is ...
... example , to underline just how fundamental a pattern to storytelling this is , we may look at what became the most successful science fiction film ever pro- duced by Hollywood , George Lucas's original Star Wars ( 1977 ) . The story is ...
Seite 45
... example of an Overcoming the Monster story in which the central role of ' monster - slayer ' is played by a woman . The heroine , Ripley , is second - in- command of a space ship , far out in space , which is invaded by a peculiarly ...
... example of an Overcoming the Monster story in which the central role of ' monster - slayer ' is played by a woman . The heroine , Ripley , is second - in- command of a space ship , far out in space , which is invaded by a peculiarly ...
Seite 46
... example is Edgar Allan Poe's The Pit and the Pendulum . We know nothing of the hero of this short story , who he is or why he has been imprisoned . All we know is that he is tied down in some ' dark , enclosing space , a form of prison ...
... example is Edgar Allan Poe's The Pit and the Pendulum . We know nothing of the hero of this short story , who he is or why he has been imprisoned . All we know is that he is tied down in some ' dark , enclosing space , a form of prison ...
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 |
Andere Ausgaben - Alle anzeigen
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