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 94
Seite 18
... hero or heroine are being drawn into will involve conflict and uncertainty , because with- out some measure of both there cannot be a story . Where there is a hero there may also be a villain ( on some occasions , indeed , the hero ...
... hero or heroine are being drawn into will involve conflict and uncertainty , because with- out some measure of both there cannot be a story . Where there is a hero there may also be a villain ( on some occasions , indeed , the hero ...
Seite 23
... hero are made aware of the existence of some superhuman embodiment of evil power. This monster may take human form (e.g., a giant or a witch); the form of an animal (a wolf,a dragon, a shark); or a combination of both (the Minotaur, the ...
... hero are made aware of the existence of some superhuman embodiment of evil power. This monster may take human form (e.g., a giant or a witch); the form of an animal (a wolf,a dragon, a shark); or a combination of both (the Minotaur, the ...
Seite 25
... hero's immediate reward for slaying the mon- ster was likely to be a fabulous treasure. One such tale, later to achieve wider currency from its adaptation by Wagner, was the episode in the Volsunga Saga which tells of how the young hero ...
... hero's immediate reward for slaying the mon- ster was likely to be a fabulous treasure. One such tale, later to achieve wider currency from its adaptation by Wagner, was the episode in the Volsunga Saga which tells of how the young hero ...
Seite 33
... hero is pitted, in a battle to the death. And we never have any doubt as to why the hero stands in opposition to such a centre of dark and destructive power: because the hero's own motivation and qualities are presented as so completely ...
... hero is pitted, in a battle to the death. And we never have any doubt as to why the hero stands in opposition to such a centre of dark and destructive power: because the hero's own motivation and qualities are presented as so completely ...
Seite 37
... hero that , unless he comes out to surrender , she will be killed . As Kane emerges , Miller pushes Amy aside to fire ; but bravely she jogs his arm , giving the hero a chance to get his shot in first . All four outlaws are dead . Hero ...
... hero that , unless he comes out to surrender , she will be killed . As Kane emerges , Miller pushes Amy aside to fire ; but bravely she jogs his arm , giving the hero a chance to get his shot in first . All four outlaws are dead . Hero ...
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