What is a plot in fine art? What is plot in literature? Commencement, climax and denouement

) occurring in artistic work(on theater stage) and lined up for reader(viewer, player) by certain rules of demonstration. The plot is the basis of the form of the work.

To the utmost general view The plot is a kind of basic scheme of the work, including the sequence of actions occurring in the work and the totality of character relationships existing in it. Typically the plot includes the following elements: exposition , the beginning, development of action, climax, denouement and postposition, and also, in some works, prologue And epilogue. The main prerequisite for the development of the plot is time, and in historical terms ( historical period actions of the work), and in the physical (the passage of time during the work).

Plot and plot

The concept of plot is closely related to the concept plots works. In modern Russian literary criticism(as well as in practice school teaching literature) the term “plot” usually refers to the very course of events in a work, and the plot is understood as the main artistic conflict, which develops in the course of these events. Historically, other views on the relationship between plot and plot have existed and continue to exist. For example:

• Ushakov’s explanatory dictionary defines plot as “a set of actions, events in which the main content is revealed work of art”, and the plot as “the content of the events depicted in a literary work in their sequential connection.” Thus, the plot, in contrast to the plot, is attributed to the obligatory presentation of the events of the work in their time sequence.
• The previous interpretation was supported in the 1920s by representatives OPOYAZ, who proposed to distinguish between two sides of the narrative: they called the very development of events in the world of the work “plot”, and the way these events are depicted by the author - “plot”.
• Another interpretation comes from Russian critics mid-19th century and was also supported by A. N. Veselovsky and M. Gorky: they called the plot the very development of the action of the work, adding to this the relationships of the characters, and by the plot they understood the compositional side of the work, that is, how exactly the author communicates the content of the plot. It is easy to see that the meanings of the terms “plot” and “plot” in this interpretation, compared to the previous one, change places.

Finally, there is also a point of view that the concept of “plot” independent meaning does not have, and to analyze a work it is quite enough to operate with the concepts of “plot”, “plot diagram” (that is, plot in the sense of the first two of the above options), “plot composition” (the way the author presents the events from the plot scheme).

Typology of plots

Repeated attempts have been made to classify the plots literary works, separate them by various signs, highlight the most typical ones. The analysis allowed, in particular, to highlight large group so-called "vagrant stories"- plots that are repeated many times in different designs different nations and in different regions, for the most part- V folk art(fairy tales, myths, legends).

According to A.E. Neamtsu, from the whole variety of traditional plots, four main genetic groups can be distinguished: mythological, folklore, historical and literary.

There are several attempts to reduce the diversity of plots to a small, but at the same time comprehensive set of plot schemes. In the famous short story "Four Cycles" Borges claims that all plots come down to just four options:

• On the assault and defense of a fortified city ( Troy)
• About the long return ( Odysseus)
• About search ( Jason)
• About the suicide of God ( One , Attis)

French explorer Georges Polti published in 1895 book " Thirty-six dramatic situations", in which he reduced all the experience of world drama to the development of 36 standard plot collisions.

The plot is an essential component of any work. Be it a film, book, play or even a painting. Moreover, without him these works simply could not exist. So what is plot?

There are many definitions. The most accurate one sounds like this: plot is a compositionally constructed order of events taking place in a work. It is he who determines the sequence of presentation of the story for the viewer/reader. In literature, the concept of plot is closely related to the concept of plot, but they should not be confused. The plot is a means that the author rather than the viewer needs. events. In books and often in films, the plot presents us with actions that are far from chronological order. But, despite this, the narrative is perceived as integral and harmonious.

Exposition. Preface to action. Typically, an exposition is a descriptive piece that introduces us to the work.

The beginning. The beginning of the action, where the conflicts of the work are outlined and the characters' personalities are revealed. This is a mandatory element, because what is a plot without a plot?

Development. The main effective twists and turns of the plot.

Climax. The highest intensity of action, the peak of the plot. Usually after the climax there are dramatic changes in the lives of the characters.

Denouement. As a rule, the characters find something for themselves, and their future lives are clearly presented.

The final. Otherwise, it can be called an afterword. Here the author puts everything in its place and sums up the work. It's interesting that in Lately the tendency to leave the ending open-ended is clearly outlined, so that the viewer/reader can figure it out for himself future fate characters.

Sometimes plot elements may change places. Thus, there are films and books with both direct and delayed exposure. With the first, everything is clear - first the viewer gets acquainted with the characters and the scene of action, after which a conflict ensues. In the second case, we learn about the conditions after the start. There are works without any exposition at all, where the reader has to get to know the characters during the action itself.

Currently, there are adherents of some avant-garde movements who create works without a plot at all. Such “experiences” are difficult for viewers to perceive and represent frivolous parodies of art. But there are also schemes for constructing a composition that completely overturn our idea of ​​what a plot is. They will be discussed below.

To complement the answer to the question of what the plot is, it must be said that this is what holds the viewer’s attention throughout the work. When coming up with a plot, the author of a book first of all thinks about how to interest the reader. Moreover, to interest him not for a couple of pages, but so that he cannot tear himself away from the work. Therefore, in our time, more and more new plot construction schemes are appearing - stories are told backwards, endings completely turn the entire narrative upside down, and so on. Perhaps in the future there will no longer be any standard schemes. And the answer to the question “What is plot?” It will be much more difficult and confusing than it is now. For now, this is just a scheme and method of building a narrative.

The concept of “plot” has many meanings depending on the area of ​​use. The word itself comes from the French “sujet”, which literally translates as “object”. If we consider the question of what a plot is from the point of view of drama, epic, script, poem or film, then this concept will mean an action that takes place in a certain sequence in dramatic, lyrical and narrative works. The first to use this concept in relation to literature were such famous classicists of the seventeenth century as Boileau and Corneille. They implied certain incidents that occurred in the lives of the heroes of the work.

The difference between plot and plot

Some people incorrectly interpret the concept of “plot”, confusing it with the word “plot”.

By plot it is customary to mean all kinds of stories, fables and myths. The word "plot" came to us from Latin language, which means “to tell.” Since this term became widespread much earlier than the French term, these two concepts began to be compared, which ultimately led to confusion and instability of concepts.

To understand what a plot is in literature, you need to understand some subtleties. For example, modern literature treats these two concepts as synonyms, but if we consider them in depth, from a philological point of view, we can see some differences. So, the plot will be a direct sequence of events of the work, in other words, brief retelling in chronological order. The plot is an artistically constructed development of events, the chronology in it can be violated, the plot includes everything lyrical descriptions, digressions, etc., which the plot lacks. There is also an opinion according to which the plot is usually called the direct course of events, and the plot is the artistic conflict itself, which gradually develops. Despite this, the plot is constructed in such a way as to reveal main idea work, its idea and conflict.

Other interpretations of the plot

What is the plot of the work? The plot itself is usually called the unique and original side of the form of a work, which corresponds to its content. In this case, it is necessary to thoroughly study the structure of the plot, its episodes and the narrative relationship of dialogues with conflicts.

Historical development term will help you understand what the plot of a fairy tale is, since even early stage development of the epic, the plot itself was built in a chronological sequence of episodes that told about fairy tales with the participation of knights, as well as exciting novels. Later forms of the epic received a slightly different plot structure, since here the conflict of the work itself passed directly through all the episodes and had a certain outcome. It is the analysis of the plot of the work that will allow us to correctly analyze its plot.

Fine art interprets the concept of “plot” as an event that is depicted in the work itself. In this case, it is necessary to distinguish between the terms “theme” and “plot” of the work, since one theme can have several different plots, which are revealed in detail in the work itself.