Intro to Fiction Key Terms
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28 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Always Already | - paradoxical relationship between causes and effects (what appears to be a symptom may in fact be a predisposition). - a characters "nature" is a result of that characters position or function within a structure. - thus it is impossible to find a first cause or fist instance of a particular behavior or effect. |
| Ambivalence | - the state of possessing multiple meanings or attitudes - NOT the same thing as ambiguity ( the multiple meanings are specifiable). - the multiple meanings are often in conflict with one another, perhaps even mutually contradictory. |
| Binary Opposition | - pair of concepts whose terms contradict, oppose, or exclude one another. - binary oppositions tend to affiliate with other binary oppositions, to line up symmetrically with analogous oppositions. - binary oppositions tend to be hierarchical. - binary oppositions particularly susceptible to reversal or inversion |
| Diachronic | -diachronic relations are relations of sequence or temporality - histoire (order in which events in story take place) and récit( order in which author tells the sequence of events) are both types of diachronic relations; both the events and their narration take place in time. - diachronic relations need to be distinguished from synchronic (simultaneous "the force" affects everything) relations |
| Logocentrism | - narrowly, privileging of speech over writing - more generally, privileging of originals over copies - idea that mediation is distortion - paradox of logocentrism is that every copy can become can become in turn an original |
| male homosocial spectrum | - spectrum of all intensely-freighted emotional relationship between men - the exact valence, configuration, or nature of the relationship is not as important as the intensity of the bonding; for instance, rivalry and loyalty are both example of homosocial bonding. - spectrum runs from homoeroticism and homosexuality at one end ( though rivalry, loyalty, and "male-bonding") to homophobia at the other extreme. - highly exclusive of women - often to the point of misogyny. |
| Mediation | - mediation means both communication and representation - mediation by definition takes place within a concrete medium - opposed to immediacy |
| Metaphor | - a figure of speech in which you literally state that something is what it is not ("my love is a red rose") - metaphor implies the noting of a similarity - metaphor is usefully distinguished from metonymy, in which things are connected by proximity or habitual association rather by identity. |
| Metonymy | -figure of speech in which you refer to something by naming something that is proximante to, or habitually associated with it (e.g. the White House today announced) - metonomy is usefully distinguished from metaphor; metaphor emphasizes relationships of similarity, whereas metonymy emphasizes relationships of connection or contiguity. - metonomy is usefully distinguished from synecdoche, which is a relation of a part to a whole ( ex. all hands on deck) |
| mediated desire | - desire is always an imitaion of someone else's desires, not an attraction to something intrinsic in object - mediated desire is thus partly a desire to be like someone else - mediated desire thus usually takes the form of a triangle, with two rivals desiring the same person or object. |
| Narrative desire | 1. narrative desire is the desire to get to the end, the solution, of a story (it is the desire for closure) 2. paradoxically, narrative desire is also the desire to prolong or delay the ending, to keep reading 3.technically, narrative desire takes place at the level of the reader or the narrative as a whole, rather than being experienced by individual characters, though individual characters may be figures for this process |
| Paternal Interdiction | 1.literally, what the father prohibits you from doing; but more generally, a prohibition issued by any authority figure 2.the interdiction functions to thwart or redirect desire 3.paradoxically, the interdiction functions to incite desire |
| Primal Scene | 1.the "primal scene" refers to the witnessing of your own creation or conception 2. the primal scene is always experienced or remembered retrospectively; thus it is unverifiable 3.the primal scene is traumatic |
| Synchronic | 1.synchronic relations are relations of simultaneity 2.within a narrative, everything that does not depend on sequence is part of the synchronic structure 3.this includes parallel plots; themes; symbolism and imagery |
| Zeno's Paradox | 1.technically, the paradoxical fact that if you keep reducing the distance between two things exactly in half, the distance never disappears 2.one implication is that representation can never catch up with experience; writing can never catch up with the action that it is narrating 3.narrative is inevitably retrospective |
| Recit | 1. the sequence of the narration (importantly distinguished from histoire, that is, from events in the order they took place in the world referred to by the text) 2. récit always takes place (is enunciated--though this term isn't necessary) within a particular medium 3. all formal organizing devices such as chapter breaks, flashbacks, nested narratives, etc., are an aspect of the récit, not the histoire |
| Histoire | 1. histoire refers to the sequence of events as they "really" took place in the world referred to by a text, fiction, or narrative. 2.as opposed to récit, histoire is open-ended; it has no formal beginning, end, or divisions 3.though there are multiple récits (multiple ways of telling a story), there is only one histoire |
| Ariadne's Thread | 1) more narrowly: clue replicates the shape of the puzzle 2)more generally: interpretation retraces structure of object begin interpreted. 3) thus all critique risks taking on character of thing it is criticizing. |
| Cinnematic Apparatus | 1) technique used to create point-of-view in film 2) uses shot-reverse-shot which is never 180 degrees apart. 3) divides characters (assigns them) into active and passive roles 4) makes us identify with a particular character |
| cultural relativism | 1) belief that no meanings or values are intrinsic or natural 2) meanings and values are always culturally specific 3) the same fact can have different meanings; meaning is subjective. |
| Essentialism | 1) belief that some qualities or behaviors are intrinsic or natural 2) such values or ideas would be trans-historical and trans-cultural. 3) resulting meanings could not be variable or subjective |
| Oral culture | 1) culture organized principally around conversation, storytelling, call and response, music 2) oral activities entrusted with preserving and transmitting collective experience 3) oppositional relation to "official" culture. 4) distinction between active and passive, speaker and listener, not static fixed. |
| Plain Style | 1) a linguistic style charactized by simple vocabulary and syntax, minimal ornamentation or elaboration 2) not necessarily clearer than other styles 3) the plain style has not intrinsic effect. |
| print culture | 1) culture organized principally around printed documents (e.g. declarations, constitutions) 2) literacy, access to literacy, demographics of literacy, are political issues. 3) printed material has significance beyond its content; it is a sign of power 4) the teaching of reading isn't just a technical skill; it's an initiation into a community and its values. |
| Signifier | 1) words, or verbal signs, are divided into two parts: signifier and signified. 2) the signifier is the purely material component of the verbal sign (the sounds of the word, its visual appearance on the page); the signified is the idea or object that the word stands for. 3) the signifier is pure form without meaning ( don't confuse "signifier" with "word"! Think of a signifier as a word with its meaning subtracted. |
| similarity disorder | 1) a type of aphasia - a disorder in which your ability to reach for right word is impaired. 2) an inability to recognize similarities or to be able to match things together based on a principle of identity. 3) tendency to rely on context, contiguity 4) associated with metonymy. |
| synecdoche | 1) synecdoche is a figure of speech in which the part stands in for the whole 2) synechdoche implies a natural, intrinsic, organic relation, rather than a relationship of mere proximity ( as in metonymy) or resemblance ( as in metaphor) |
| visual culture | 1) culture organized principally around the production and consumption of images. 2) privileges images over other kinds of media 3) consequently images become commodities. 4) consumption of images offered as substitute for real power. 5) real power lies in production of images. |
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