Table de matières
Table de matières
This chapter is concerned with the review of the relevant literature on characterization and thematic study. It provides the readers with the most important information about the different techniques applied in the analyses of characters and themes. It also clarifies the principal terms used in the in the analysis of a literally work. The details given in this chapter are from numerous literary books, essays, articles as well as courses consulted for a good achievement of this study.
This part deals with the important concepts which are usually used in the analyses of characters. It explains clearly and shortly what characterization and characters are.
Characterization is the art and technique of representing fictional personages. It is a literary device that is used step by step in literature to highlight and explains the possible details about a character in a story. Characterization is defined as the way in which authors convey information about their characters (udleditions.Cast.org/craft-elm-
characteriation.html). It is also the act of describing the character or qualities of someone or something and the concept of creating characters for a narrative. (www.characterization.org). Characterization is also the process which allows us to sympathize with the different characters and thus, feel as if what is happening to them in the story is really happening to us. It also gives us a sense of verisimilitude, or the semblance of living reality.
Characterization is actually the first activity which moves the story along in the sense that it gathers and compels characters in good and difficult situations and enables them to create, each, their own plot.
A character is someone who acts, appears, or is referred to as playing a part in a literary work, usually in a fiction or a drama (The Norton introduction to literature, P. 140). According to (hptt://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/character-arts), a character is a person in a narrative or work of art (such as a novel, play, television series or film), who guides readers through their stories by helping them to understand flats and ponder them.
In fictional literature, authors use many different types of characters to tell their stories. These characters can be human beings, animals, geometric shapes, flower etc.
Different types of characters fulfil different roles in the narrative process. They go on and on changing according to the role they play and their frequency in a literary narrative. With a little analysis, we can detect some or all types of characters in terms of their characteristics. They can be round, also called dynamic characters, or they can be flat, i.e. static characters. Characters in a narrative can be presented by means of description, through their actions, reactions, speech, thoughts, and also throughout their interactions with other characters.
Flat / static characters.
Flat characters are characters that do not change over time. Their personalities do not evolve or undergo any transformation. They are notable for one kind of personality trait or characteristic. Flat characters are simple but very important in a literary work. They present some advantages and disadvantages in the analysis of a literary narrative, as M. Forster (1971: 76 - 71) states. First of all, flat characters present the advantage of easy recognition. This means, they are easily recognized whenever they come in or intervene in a work of art; they are recognized by the audience. They are not only useful to the audience but also to the others in the sense that they never need being reintroduced, they never run away, and they do not need to be watched for development as they provide their own atmosphere.
Second, flat characters are advantageous for they are easily remembered by the audience afterwards, even if they are very simple. Once the audience comes across them, they remain unalterable in their mind because they never change by circumstances. They move through situations without losing their traits even if the situations differ.
The major problem with these flat characters is that they do not inform the audience sufficiently about themselves, or their own personality. Their behaviours are not well revealed. Thus, they are sometimes confused with status or photographs which appear without bringing any piece of information on the pictures they present. But flat characters are not really photographs, nor are they status in a vigour movement. Flat characters are not in themselves as big achievements as round ones. M. Forster (1971: 80) explains that featuring characters are more interesting when they are comic in a literary narrative, and they are boring when they play a serious or tragic role.
Round / dynamic characters.
Round characters are characters that have a complex personality. They are often portrayed as conflicted and contradictory persons. They change over time, usually as a result of resolving a central conflict or facing a major crisis. Most dynamic characters tend to be central rather than peripheral characters, because resolving the conflict is the major role of central characters.
Round characters are well-developed and they are usually having many traits that bring the audience to feel as if they (round characters) were real persons. These characters have unpredictable actions and reactions because of the fact that they go on and on changing as the story keeps evolving.
As far as their traits are concerned, these characters are very important for they reveal what they really are. They are self explanatory and cannot be summed up in a single phrase. It is recommended to study these characters in connection with the great scenes through which they pass as they are modified by the some scenes. They behave like real human beings.
Round characters are the kind of characters who are well – disposed to perform tragically roles, as J. OKpak (1970: 81) suggests. These characters are able to surprise the audience in a convincing way and move them from one feeling to another. A character that never surprises or can surprise without convincing is said to be flat. Round characters always resent changes in attitude, behaviour, in appearances or in personalities. These changes are considerable and bring change within the whole narrative.
There are different ways of studying characters. They may be studied in isolation, as it is the case of isolated and independent personalities. In fact, isolation is one of their ways of proceeding but not a good one. It is said not be a good way of doing because all the characters are members of a society. They depend on the need of their society, as D. Pringles (1987: 51) supports. David Pringles also says that characters are studies in relationship with other characters for without them they have no identity, they cannot do anything and they cannot exist. In any literary work, the story is built around a central character who is the vital character to the development and resolution of the conflict, beside subsidiary characters who serve to complement the major character and help move the flat events forward. The analysis of characters in relationship with other characters is very important for it puts emphasis on their actions, reactions and interactions in their society. Besides, it also looks/takes into considerations the contribution of each single character to the resolution of the conflict raised in the narrative.
David Pringles argues that studying characters in relationship with others is the best method, as he puts it in these words:
“The discussion of characters in relationship with others is
one of the best characterization strategies used nowadays because the society is made up with groups of people who act and interact”.
Characterization is a process that the writter uses to reveal or present characters. There are two major strategies used for discovering characters (www.enotes.com/characterisation).
The direct presentation or direct characterization: it refers to what the speaker or narrator directly says or thinks about the character. In other words, in the direct characterization the reader is told what the character is like. The narrator or speaker is used by the author to tell what the characters are like.
The indirect presentation or indirect characterization: this refers to what characters do and say. The author shows/presents things that reveal the personality of characters. The readers try to understand by themselves what the characters are all about. This shows how we understand people in real world, since we cannot get in their minds. The audience itself is obliged to figure out what the characters are like. For a good understanding of characters in indirect characterization there are five different methods that can be used. These are synthesized in STEAL (www.emotes.com) . The word STEAL separately means the following :
Speech: while studying characters, a critic must look at what the characters say and how they
say it.
Thoughts: what the characters are thinking about must also be taken into condition for a better
understanding.
Effect on others toward the character: the critic must also look at the way other characters
feel or behave in reaction to the characters under study. He has to understand what is revealed through the characters’ effects on people.
Actions: the critic must also see what the characters do; how they behave.
Looks: the characters’ appearance also helps the critic understand them. What do they look
like, how do they dress, etc. are the main concerns in this move.
This point clarifies some clues which are considered as guides in the study of themes. It discusses the strategies and methods to use so as to easily discover the different themes of a literary work and clearly understand them.
Some very important concepts, techniques and terms need to be mastered before one engages in the study of themes. Thus, this section defines the two basic concepts used in thematic study and states the different strategies that are applied to the literary narrative on which the present research paper lies. The two key terms are namely thematic study and them. a.Thematic study.
Thematic study is stated to be the most common form of analysis in a qualitative research in literature. It emphasizes pinpointing, examining and recording patterns or themes within data. This study examines themes within data. It emphasizes organization and rich descriptions of the data set. Thematic study goes beyond simply connecting phrase or words in a text and moves on to identifying implicit and explicit ideas within the data.
The word “Theme” owes its origin from a Latin expression “Thema”, which means “Proposition”, which was derived from “Tithemai”, meaning “to put”. Theme is across data sets that is imported out to the description of a phenomenon and is associated with a specific research question. It then becomes a category of analysis. It represents a level of patterned response or meaning from the data that is related to the research question at hand. Oxford advanced Learner’s Dictionary (2006: 1532) defines theme as the subject or main idea in a talk, piece of writing, or work of art. It is a short phrase, sentence or idea that is repeated or developed in a piece of music. It is the central and dominating idea in a literary work. “Theme” means a message or moral implicit statement developed in any work of art.
Determining what can be considered as theme can be used with deciding prevalence. This does not necessarily mean the frequency at which a theme occurs but in terms of space within each data item and across the data. It is ideal that the theme will occur numerous times across the data set, but a higher frequency does not necessarily mean that the theme is a more important force in the understanding of the data. A researcher’s judgment is the key tool in determining which themes are more crucial than others.
A potential data analysis pitfall occurs when researchers use the research question to code instead of creating codes and fail to provide adequate examples from the data. Eventually, the theme needs to provide on accurate understanding of the “big picture”.
There are different levels at which themes can be identified: semantic and latent levels (https://en.m.wikipedia.com) . A thematic study generally focuses wholly or mostly on one level. Semantic themes attempt to identify the explicit and surface meaning of the data. The research does not look beyond what the participant said or wrote. In this instance, the researcher wishes to give the reader a sense of the important themes. Thus, some depth and complexity is lost. However, a rich description of the entire data set is reprinted.
Conversely, latent themes identify underlying ideas, patterns, and assumptions. This requires much interpretation of the data, so researcher might focus on one specific question or area of interest across the majority of the data set.
While analyzing the narrative, some questions help to get the needed pieces of information.
Those questions were:
In the context of the present study, the work was shaped into different phases of study. First, we watched and rewatched the data, that is the movie “Neria” in order to familiarize with what it entails, paying attention to patterns that occur. Second, I generated the initial coder by documenting where and how patterns occur. This happened despite data reduction.
Third, I searched for themes within the data and considered what was working and what was not working within themes. This enabled me to begin the analysis of the potential codes. At this point, I had a list of themes and began to focus on broader patterns in the data. I also began considering how relationships are formed between codes and themes and between different levels of existing themes. Fourth, I reviewed the themes. This allowed further expansion on and revision of themes as they developed. Fifth, I defined and named the existing themes that would be presented in the final analysis. This helped me in analyzing the data within each theme. This identification of the themes helped me see how each specific theme affects the entire picture of the data. Last, after final themes had been discovered and revealed, I began the process of writing down this research paper. Throughout this stage, I decided on themes that made meaningful contributions to the understanding of the narrative.
This chapter was concerned with the review of literature on characterization and thematic study. The key concepts found in the analysis of characters and themes were explained throughout this chapter. Besides, this chapter depicted the main strategies applied to the literary narrative so as to well discuss characters and themes in the narrative under study.
The following chapter is a proper analysis of characterization in ‘Neria’.
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