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 83
Seite 17
... mysterious underground cave . We meet a Scottish general , Macbeth , who has just won a great victory over his country's enemies ... then , on his way home , he encounters the mysterious witches . We meet a girl called Alice , wondering ...
... mysterious underground cave . We meet a Scottish general , Macbeth , who has just won a great victory over his country's enemies ... then , on his way home , he encounters the mysterious witches . We meet a girl called Alice , wondering ...
Seite 21
... mysterious mounds in the sand. He paused to investi- gate them, and thus began one of the most important investigations in the history of archaeology. For what Layard had stumbled on turned out to be the remains of one of the earliest ...
... mysterious mounds in the sand. He paused to investi- gate them, and thus began one of the most important investigations in the history of archaeology. For what Layard had stumbled on turned out to be the remains of one of the earliest ...
Seite 22
... mysterious evil . The source of the threat is traced to a monstrous figure , the mad and deformed scientist Dr No , who lives half across the world in an underground cavern on a remote island . The hero James Bond goes to the armourer ...
... mysterious evil . The source of the threat is traced to a monstrous figure , the mad and deformed scientist Dr No , who lives half across the world in an underground cavern on a remote island . The hero James Bond goes to the armourer ...
Seite 28
... mysterious, half-buried cylinders contain life: 'As it bulged up and caught the light, it glistened like wet leather. The large, dark- coloured eyes were regarding us steadfastly. It was rounded, and had, one might say, a face. There ...
... mysterious, half-buried cylinders contain life: 'As it bulged up and caught the light, it glistened like wet leather. The large, dark- coloured eyes were regarding us steadfastly. It was rounded, and had, one might say, a face. There ...
Seite 29
... mysterious processes of the imagination which lie behind the creation of stories. Indeed, so fundamental is this phenomenon to an understanding of how stories work, that we must now look at it more closely. Chapter 2 The Monster ( II ) ...
... mysterious processes of the imagination which lie behind the creation of stories. Indeed, so fundamental is this phenomenon to an understanding of how stories work, that we must now look at it more closely. Chapter 2 The Monster ( II ) ...
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