In narratology, a back-story (also back story or backstory) is the history behind the situation extant at the start of the main story. Narratology is the theory and study of Narrative and Narrative structure and the ways they affect our perception This literary device is often employed to lend the main story depth or verisimilitude. A literary technique or literary device is an identifiable Rule of thumb, convention or Structure that is employed in Literature Verisimilitude in its literary context is defined as the fact or quality of being verisimilar the appearance of being true or real likeness or resemblance of the truth reality or a fact’s A back-story may include the history of characters, objects, countries, or other elements of the main story. Back-stories are usually revealed, sketchily or in full, chronologically or otherwise, as the main narrative unfolds. However, a story creator may also create portions of a back-story or even an entire back-story that is solely for his or her own use in writing the main story and is never revealed in the main story. In role-playing games, a character’s back-story is usually called his or her background. A console role-playing game is a video game genre that has its origin rooted in Video game consoles and includes game mechanics and frequently settings derived
The dramatic revelation of secrets from the backstory is a useful term for forming the story, recommended as far back as Aristotle's Poetics. Anagnorisis (ˌænəgˈnɒrɨsɨs ἀναγνώρισις also known as discovery originally meant Recognition in its Greek context not only of a person but also Aristotle (Greek Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC was a Greek philosopher a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. Aristotle 's Poetics ( Greek: Ποιητικός, c 335 BCE aims to give an account of what he calls 'poetry' (for him the term includes the
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Examples of back-stories
- Arguably the most extensive back-story ever created is that for Vyasa's ancient epic Mahabharata, which was one of the longest epics ever written with a total of over 90,000 verses (over 2 million words). Vyāsa ( Devanāgarī: व्यास is a central and revered figure in the majority of Hindu traditions An epic is a lengthy Narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation The core story of the Mahabharata was originally 24,000 verses, while the rest of the epic consists of additional back-story, as well as numerous side stories. A side story in fiction is a form of narrative that occurs alongside established stories set within a fictional universe
- J. R. R. Tolkien's novel The Lord of the Rings has a very extensive back-story; much of it was published posthumously in The Silmarillion and other books. The Lord of the Rings is an epic The Silmarillion is a collection of J R R Tolkien 's mythopoeic works edited and published posthumously by his son Christopher Tolkien in (Actually, this back-story existed long before Tolkien ever decided to write the novel. ) Other fantasy authors, notably Robert Jordan in his Wheel of Time series, have followed suit. Fantasy is a Genre that uses magic and other Supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, and/or setting Robert Jordan was the Pen name of James Oliver Rigney Jr ( October 17, 1948 &ndash September 16, 2007) under which he The Wheel of Time (abbreviated by fans to WoT) is a series of epic fantasy novels written by the late American author James Oliver J. K. Rowling's back-story for the Harry Potter books is also quite elaborate. Joanne "Jo" Rowling OBE (born 31 July 1965 who writes under the Harry Potter is a series of seven Fantasy novels written by British author J
- The Elder Scrolls series of games features a vast and complex backstory. The Elder Scrolls (also known as Elder Scrolls or abbreviated as TES) is a Computer role-playing game series developed To characters in the games this is of course their history, meaning that many varying and contradictory accounts of backstories in the games exist in the gameworld of Tamriel - the accidental confusion, mythologisation and ideological appropriation of histories in the series gives the games a very rich and compelling atmosphere of authenticity, and maintain the player's interest by allowing them to try and piece together the 'true' version of events. Some events, however, such as the War of the Second House, were deliberately given no definitive 'true' version by the designers, so as to enhance the above-mentioned atmosphere.
- Similarly, the Malazan Book of the Fallen series by Steven Erikson uses ambiguous and mythologised backstories to emulate the ambiguity of real history; his backstory does have a 'true' version however. The Malazan Book of the Fallen is an epic Fantasy series written by Canadian author Steven Erikson, published in ten volumes starting with Steven Erikson (born October 7, 1959) is the Pseudonym of Steve Rune Lundin, a His use of prologues set millennia before the core of his novels provides readers with an interesting insight into the myths and traditions of peoples in the cores of the books as the reader can see how the events of the prologues have become changed in peoples collective memory by the passage of time. Collective memory is a term coined by Maurice Halbwachs, separating the notion from the individual memory
- The Metal Gear series has an extensive back-story, with many characters in the series having an elaborate history that are explained to the player through radio calls during gameplay or through supplemental information contained in the manuals. is a critically acclaimed series of Stealth games created by Hideo Kojima and developed and published by Konami.
- The Compilation of Final Fantasy VII expands on the elaborate back-story of Final Fantasy VII through plot details revealed in sequels, prequels and side stories. is a Console role-playing game developed by Square (now Square Enix) and published by Sony Computer Entertainment as the seventh installment in the is a Console role-playing game developed by Square (now Square Enix) and published by Sony Computer Entertainment as the seventh installment in the A sequel is a work in Literature, Film, or other media that portrays events following those of a previous work A prequel is a work that portrays events and/or aspects of a previously completed narrative but is set prior to the existing narrative A side story in fiction is a form of narrative that occurs alongside established stories set within a fictional universe
- The back-story of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past focused on an ancient legend happening long ago in Hyrule. The Legend of Zelda A Link to the Past, known in Japan as, is an action-adventure Video game developed and published by Nintendo for the A legend ( Latin, legenda, "things to be read" is a Narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to What really happened on that legend was perhaps revealed on the fifth Zelda game, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. A legend ( Latin, legenda, "things to be read" is a Narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to is an action-adventure Video game developed by Nintendo 's Entertainment Analysis and Development division for the Nintendo 64 Video game
- In science fiction, Frank Herbert's Dune series has an extensive back-story, which has allowed other authors to write a series of prequels based on it. Dune is a Science fiction novel written by Frank Herbert and published in 1965. A prequel is a work that portrays events and/or aspects of a previously completed narrative but is set prior to the existing narrative
- When George Lucas wrote the original Star Wars movies, he wrote a back-story to explain where the characters came from. George Walton Lucas Jr (born May 14, 1944) is an Academy Award -winning American Film director, producer, Screenwriter Star Wars is an epic Space opera franchise initially conceived by George Lucas during the 1970s and significantly expanded That backstory became the source of a prequel trilogy of movies and the Expanded Universe. A prequel is a work that portrays events and/or aspects of a previously completed narrative but is set prior to the existing narrative
- The third Indiana Jones movie, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, begins with a scene set during protagonist Indiana's childhood, explaining where he acquired his hat, his whip, the scar on his chin and his fear of snakes; this in turn led to the television series, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, which can be seen as a back-story to the movie trilogy. Dr (also Col Henry Walton Jones Jr, better known as Indiana Jones or Indy after his pet dog is a fictional Adventurer, Soldier Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is a 1989 Adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg from a story co-written by Executive producer The word whip describes two basic types of tools A long stick-like device usually slightly flexible with a small bit of leather or cord called a "popper" on the A snake is an elongate Reptile of the suborder Serpentes Like all reptiles snakes are covered in scales. Television ( TV) is a widely used Telecommunication medium for sending ( Broadcasting) and receiving moving Images, either monochromatic The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, also known as The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones, is an Emmy Award -winning American The opening sequence of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is expanded upon in the video game Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is a 1984 period Adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg. Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb is an action Video game developed by The Collective and published by LucasArts in 2003
- The movies Memento and Irréversible feature the novel orientation of being told backwards in time, scene by scene, with the concluding scenes occurring first, and so in some sense they may be considered as entirely comprising back-story. Memento is a Psychological thriller Film written and directed by Christopher Nolan, adapted from his brother Jonathan 's short Irréversible ( 2002, France) is a Film written, directed, edited, and photographed by Gaspar An episode of Seinfeld had a similar sequence following the story of an Indian Wedding and Kramer's argument with Franklin Delano Romanowski. Seinfeld is an American Situation comedy, or sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5 1989 to May 14 1998 lasting nine seasons India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country Cosmo Kramer is a character on the American television sitcom Seinfeld (1989–1998 played by Michael Richards.
- J. Michael Straczynski has written a detailed back-story for the TV show Babylon 5, going back 1000 years. Joseph Michael Straczynski (born July 17, 1954) known professionally as J Babylon 5 is an American science fiction television series created produced and largely written by J
Shared back-stories
In a shared universe more than one author may share the same back-story. A shared universe is a Literary technique in which several different authors create works of Fiction that share aspects such as settings or characters and that are The later creation of a back-story that conflicts in some way with a previously written main story may require the adjustment device known as retroactive continuity. Retroactive continuity is the deliberate changing of previously established facts in a work of serial fiction
Journalism back-stories
The term "backstory" has a slightly different sense when used by the contemporary news media. For a reporter, the "backstory" is, generally speaking, any information that does not make it into the story as reported in the news media. This can include past history, unstated agendas, information about secret sources, unconfirmed rumor, and other material that does not meet journalistic standards, cannot for other reasons (legal concerns, political pressure, editorial decisions) be released to the public, or is simply too long or complicated to report in a news story. In this sense the backstory is not necessarily false or fictional. It simply does not fit the standard definition of reporting.
Since the advent of the internet and of blogs, this journalistic backstory has become much more visible and interesting to the general public. Blogs often focus on the backstory both before and after the standard news story is covered in the media. This is beginning to change the lines between story and backstory and alter the definitions of journalism.
The New York Times has started a daily podcast called "Backstory" in which its editors and senior staff interview its reporters about stories they are working on. The project seems to be designed to help overcome public distrust of the Times and other media by people who assume the backstory is concealed by an elite unconcerned, for reasons of political bias or simple incompetence, about the truth of its official reporting.
Sustainability back-stories
In recent years, sustainability advocates have begun to refer to the "back-story" of goods: that is, the impacts on the planet and people created by producing and delivering those goods [1]. Sustainability, in a general sense is the capacity to maintain a certain process or state indefinitely Without knowing the full back-story of the things we use, they argue, we can't accurately judge whether or not the impacts we are indirectly generating by purchasing them are good or bad. Therefore, many bright green environmentalists believe that greater corporate and governmental transparency is a critical step towards sustainability, so that consumers can make more informed choices, and public opinion can be brought to bear on unethical practices [2]. Bright green environmentalism is an ideology based on the belief that New technologies and Social innovation provide the most successful path to Sustainable development
See also
In history film television and other media a flashback (also called analepsis) is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current In literature Racconto and flashback mean almost the same thing UserScottandrewhutchins: http//enwikipediaorg/w/indexphp?title=Characterization&diff=next&oldid=157919139 --> Characterization is a process of conveying Creation mythIn comic book terminology, an origin story is an account or Back-story revealing how a character or team gained their superpowers or the circumstances Anagnorisis (ˌænəgˈnɒrɨsɨs ἀναγνώρισις also known as discovery originally meant Recognition in its Greek context not only of a person but alsoDapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic