“Thematology” from Comparative Literature and Literature Theory

李小清 October 2001/10/21

  1. Development

A. discreditedresurrected (1950s) by topos studies

Belgium—Trousson

Germany—Frenzel

United States—Harry Levin

B. Terminological uncertainty

  1. subject matter(stoff)/theme(thema)
  2. stoff: content/form/meaning, Geothe (p.125)
  1. Definition
  2. external structure: fable, plot (Petersen)
  3. subject matter
  4. motif/theme: thematological categories, not units of meaning
  5. meaning: problem, ideas (Jaspers, Petersen, Croce, Levin)
  6. “thematology”: Levin, theme

i. an avenue for a progression of ideas (p.128)

ii. polysemous, be endowed with different meanings in the face of different situations

  1. meaning: content category, content/meaning

image /symbol

motif /problem

theme /idea

  1. Frenzel:motif/symbol/stoff (content)
  2. Weisstein: content subject matter, theme, motif, situation, image, trait, topos(p.129)
  1. History
  2. German school

i.(thematology): consequence of German folklore study

ii.Van Tieghem’s comment (p.129-130)

iii. Paul Merker (1929-1937)

iv. Elisabeth Frenzel: dictionary of literary themes

v. Bonn School: topos studies

  1. French school(p.130)
  2. Baldensperger
  3. Hazard
  4. Van Tieghem
  5. Guyard: thematological realm offers many resources
  6. Raymond Trousson: the Prometheus theme (p.131)
  7. Kate Hamburger (1965): aesthetic interest shifting from action to agent, risk, (p.132)
  8. American school:
  9. Woodberry,Chandler: included thematology
  10. Wellek/Warren: insignificant
  11. Comparative Literature (journal):omit thematology
  12. Harry Levin: accepted thematology, The Disciplines of Criticism
  1. Methodology
  2. Stoff: preformed subject matter/raw material (Rohstoff)
  3. Frenzel: fable, plot (p.136)
  4. Weisstein: theme, stoff (combination of motifs)
  5. motif/theme
  6. motif (Frenzel):a smaller thematic unit, an element pertaining to content and situation (p.138)
  7. motif (Trousson): a large concept denoting either a certain attitude or a basic impersonal situation (p.138-9),theme
  1. motifs relate to situations; themes to characters
  2. situation: groups of human views, feelings, mode of behavior, give rise to actions
  3. theme (unlimited)—motif (100)—situation (36)
  4. situation/motif
  5. situation: so general not to be limited to one civilization
  6. motif: subject to temporal, geographical limitations, idiosyncrasies(p.140)
  7. theme: narrower in scope than motif, limited by time & place
  8. theme & the flaw/success of a work (p.141)
  9. type:(p.141)

i. the embodiment of a motif (a character’s trait) that never attains individuation intervenes between the concepts of theme & motif

ii. characters in the formative stage, thematic modes, not prototype

iii. better suited for analogy studies

  1. heroic theme/situational theme (Troussen)
  2. heroic theme (p.142)
  3. focuses on the character of the hero
  4. a choice of specific situation is moot, for most of the characters have outgrown the frame of reference
  5. endless proliferation of phenomena,variation, incomplete
  6. situational theme (p.143)
  7. action resulting from the interplay of the figures
  8. completeness can be aimed at, involve specific milieus and confrontations, historical themes

iii. themes as exhaustible while motifs as inexhaustible

iv. theme & genre

  1. motif (p.145)
  2. content, not transmission of a thematic patterns, but the thematic unity of a poet’s work
  3. study of motifs is not comparative, but monographic
  4. comparative only at the universal level of complexes or archetypes
  5. situation (p.144)
  6. divergent feelings or thoughts reflected in an action or conflict
  7. arises from a conflict between two principal directions of effort
  8. dramatic nexus takes the form of a sequence of actions & situations, the situation resulting from actions
  9. situations can be reshuffled in numerous ways
  10. motifs are abstractly combined, while situations are sequential

H. Thematological links (p.147)

i. action: physical activity, dynamic

ii. situation: pregnant moment from which all the motifs of the action evolve; more closely linked to structure than to content

iii. motif: abstracted from concrete reality, static, difficult to trace

iv. type: the embodiment of a motif

  1. theme: the ideal objects of study
  1. Smallest thematic units (p.148)
  2. Trait: can be raised to the level of the motif by means of a pointe(point) that shows it to be characteristic or symptomatic
  3. Image: a cluster of images provides a clue to the author’s intention
  4. Topos: literary commonplace; the interpenetration of originality, traditions, and imitation thus constitutes an important factor