Contemporary classifications of fictional characters - Реферат

What is wonderful about the great literature is that it transforms the man who reads it towards the condition of the man who wrote. Different approaches to the investigation of elements of literature show us the resplendence and magnitude of men’ s mind. And the many authors share with the Reader his idea, the many approaches to study his works appear in the science of literary criticism. (a) Recent decades have seen a growing interest in the social construction of identities-national identities, gender identities, etc. Analysis of character presentation and formation plays an important part in any interpretation interested in identity construction in literature, but up to now those engaged in identity analysis have neglected narratological research on character; at the same time, narrative analysis has mostly ignored the historical case studies carried out on identity construction by specialists of cultural studies.How readers relate to a character is a matter of empirical analysis, but it is important to bear in mind that the way the text presents a character is highly influential on the relation between character and reader. An “impeded identification” does not refer unequivocally to any specific character, and a clear reference to the character or characters is never given in the text, while in the case of “deferred identification” the reader is ultimately able to establish the identity of an equivocally presented character. Characterization can be described as ascribing information to an agent in the text so as to provide a character in the storyworld with a certain property or properties, a process often referred to as ascribing a property to a character. Yet some textually explicit ascriptions of properties to a character may turn out to be invalid, as when this information is attributable to an unreliable narrator or to a fellow-character (Narrator). In his heuristic of film characters, Eder (2007, 2008) adopts a similar breakdown, but adds a fourth dimension relating to communication between the film and the audience: (a) the character as an artifact (how is it made?); (b) the character as a fictional being (what features describe the character?); (c) the character as a symbol (what meaning is communicated through the character?); and (d) the character as a symptom (why is the character as it is and what is the effect?).Although the character types are listed separately, characters may be (and often are) a combination. A foil, for example, could also be a round, flat, or even a stock character. While most protagonists in novels are dynamic (change over the course of the novel) and round, they don’t have to be, especially if the novel is plot driven as opposed to character driven. For example, one cannot have a character that is both flat and round, or a character that is both static and dynamic. As a writer, it’s all about understanding the characters as you create and bring life to them for the reader.

Plan

Introduction

Chapter I .Character as the fundamental element of the fiction

The notion of “character”

History of the concept and its study

People or words

Character and action

Referring to Characters

Characterization

Character and Meaning

Character Traits

Agent and Character

Chapter II .Different approaches to classify the characters

Characterization and Genre

Static and developing characters

Distinguishing the flat and round characters

Stock characters

Superficial characters

Tellable characters

Protagonist and Antagonist

The Hero

Types of hero -bad and good points

Character, action and plot

Other classifications of characters

Terry W. Ervin and his classification

Sources character protagonist hero

Introduction

Although the character types are listed separately, characters may be (and often are) a combination. A foil, for example, could also be a round, flat, or even a stock character. While most protagonists in novels are dynamic (change over the course of the novel) and round, they don’t have to be, especially if the novel is plot driven as opposed to character driven. It’s not unheard of for a short story to feature a static protagonist.

Some character types are, by definition, opposite and cannot be considered. For example, one cannot have a character that is both flat and round, or a character that is both static and dynamic.

The terms are useful for understanding a character and his place within the story. But, in the end, it is not about how a character can be named and classified (except maybe within the confines of a literature course). As a writer, it’s all about understanding the characters as you create and bring life to them for the reader.

List of sources

Literature,Criticism and Style by Steven Croft, Helen Cross (Oxford University Press)

Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms by Chris Baldick (Oxford University Press)

Christopher Vogler-The Writer"s Journey: Mythic Structure for Storytellers and Screenwriters.

Theodore A. Rees Cheney, Writing Creative Nonfiction: Fiction Techniques for Crafting Great Nonfiction . Ten Speed Press, 2001

Cf. N. Friedman, “Point of View in Fiction: The Development of a Critical Concept”, in PMLA, 70; 1160-84. Also G. Prince (1989), 74-75.

E. M. Forster, Aspects of the Novel (Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1970), 87.

A. J. Greimas, Structural Semantics (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1983), 205-6.

Gerald Prince, “Introduction to the Study of the Narratee”, in Jane P. Tompkins (ed.), Reader-Response Criticism: From Formalism to Post-Structuralism (Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1981), 8

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