Citizendia
Your Ad Here

This article is about fictional characters in general. For second order fictional characters, see Fictional fictional character. A fictional fictional character is a type of Fictional character found in a Metafictional work

A fictional character is any person, persona, identity, or entity whose existence originates from a fictional work or performance, or in some cases is based on an existing entity. The term person is used in Common sense to mean an individual Human being. A persona, in the word's everyday usage is a social Role or a character played by an Actor. Fiction is the telling of stories which are not real More specifically fiction is an imaginative form of Narrative, one of the four basic Rhetorical modes.

Contents

Archetypes

See also: Archetype and Stock character

A character may be based on a particular archetype, which is a common characterological pattern like those listed below. An archetype ( pronounced: /ˈɑːkɪtaɪp/ (Brit or /ˈɑrkɪtaɪp/ (Amer A stock character is one which relies heavily on cultural types or names for his or her personality manner of speech and other characteristics Jungian archetypes are modeled after mythology, legend, and folk tales. An archetype ( pronounced: /ˈɑːkɪtaɪp/ (Brit or /ˈɑrkɪtaɪp/ (Amer The word mythology (from the Greek grc μυθολογία mythología, meaning "a story-telling a legendary lore" A legend ( Latin, legenda, "things to be read" is a Narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to History The concept of folklore developed as part of the 19th century ideology of Romantic nationalism, leading to the reshaping of oral traditions to serve modern ideological For example, both Puck from the William Shakespeare play A Midsummer Night's Dream and Bugs Bunny are examples of the Jungian trickster archetype because they defy established standards of behavior. This article is about Puck the character in Shakespeare's play for the mythological figure this is based on see Puck (mythology Puck, also known William Shakespeare ( baptised A Midsummer Night's Dream is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, suggested by " The Knight's Tale " from Clyde Rabbit (uncleMrs Bugs Bunny (wifePapa Bunny (fatherMama Bunny (motherRugs Bunny In Mythology, and in the study of Folklore and Religion, a trickster is a God, Goddess, spirit, man woman or anthropomorphic When defined by literary criticism, archetypes fulfill a particular role in a story. Literary criticism is the study discussion evaluation and interpretation of Literature.

Though Carl Jung identifed the first archetypes based on story patterns in 1919,[1] authors like Joseph Campbell[2] and James Hillman continued the work he'd begun. Joseph John Campbell ( March 26, 1904 – October 30, 1987) was an American Mythology Professor, Writer James Hillman (1926-) is an American Psychologist, considered to be one of the most original of the 20th century (Moore in Hillman 1989 Other authors have reorganized the information, often blending Jungian archetypes or recognizing sub-archetypes within Jung's structure. These authors include Christopher Vogler, best known for his book The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure For Writers, and Melanie Anne Phillips and Chris Huntley, whose Dramatica[3] defines seven different archetypes defined by their "Action" and "Decision" characteristics:

A single character may fulfill more than one archetypal role. In Mythology, and in the study of Folklore and Religion, a trickster is a God, Goddess, spirit, man woman or anthropomorphic A single character may also have many traits and feelings. A complex character may blend characteristics from different archetypes, just as real people embody aspects of each archetype. According to one writer/psychologist,

Though in stories the archetypes are. . . fragmented into individual characters, in real life each of us carries qualities of each archetype. If we didn't, we wouldn't be able to relate to characters who represent the archetypes we were missing. [4]

Names of characters

The names of fictional characters are often quite important. The conventions of naming have changed over time. In many Restoration comedies, for example, characters are given emblematic names that sound nothing like real life names: "Sir Fidget", "Mr. The English Restoration, or simply The Restoration began in 1660 when the English monarchy, Scottish monarchy and Irish monarchy were restored Pinchwife" and "Mrs. Squeamish" are some typical examples (all from The Country Wife by William Wycherley). William Wycherley ( c 1640 – 31 December 1715) was an English Dramatist of the Restoration period Some 18th and 19th century literature such as Les Misérables represent characters' names by the use of a single letter and a long dash (this convention is also used for other proper nouns, such as place names). Les Misérables (pronounced /le miːzeʁabl(ə translated variously from French as The Miserable Ones, The Wretched This has the effect of suggesting that the author had a real person in mind but omitted the full name for propriety's sake. A similar technique was employed by Ian Fleming in his 20th century James Bond novels, where the real name for M, if spoken in dialogue, was always written "Adm. Ian Lancaster Fleming ( May 28, 1908 – August 12, 1964) was a British author, Journalist and Second World War James Bond 007 is a Fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve Novels and two Short story M is a fictional character in Ian Fleming 's James Bond series as well as the films in the Bond franchise Sir M***". It is still common to echo an adjective or idea, if slightly changed, to suggest qualities of a character; Mr. Murdstone of David Copperfield suggests "murder" and unpleasantness. David Copperfield or The Personal History Adventures Experience and Observation of David Copperfield the Younger of Blunderstone Rookery (which he never meant to publish

A character's name will sometimes reference a real-world, literary, or mythological precursor. This can be as simple as calling a character in love Romeo, or naming a character who seemingly comes back from the dead Phoenix. Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the The phoenix ( Ancient Greek: Φοῖνιξ phoínix is a mythical sacred firebird in ancient mythologies starting with the Greek and later the

Some ways of classifying characters

The following are some ways in which readers sometimes classify characters.

Round vs. flat

Round characters are characters who are complex and realistic; they represent a depth of personality which is imitative of life. They frequently possess both good and bad traits, and they may react unexpectedly or become entangled in their own interior conflicts. These characters have been fully developed by an author, physically, mentally, and emotionally, and are detailed enough to seem real. A round character is usually a main character, and is developed over the course of the story. A flat character is its opposite, having hardly any development whatsoever.

Protagonists are normally round characters, though notable exceptions (such as Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron[5]) exist. The Protagonist or main character is the central figure of a story. Kurt Vonnegut Jr (November 11 1922 – April 11 2007 (ˈvɒnəgət was a prolific and genre-bending American Novelist known for works blending Satire, Black " Harrison Bergeron " is a Dystopian Science fiction Short story written by Kurt Vonnegut Jr Antagonists are often round as well, though comedic villains may be almost farcically flat. An antagonist (from Greek ανταγωνιστής - antagonistes, "opponent competitor rival" is a character or A farce is a Comedy written for the stage or film which aims to Entertain the audience by means of unlikely extravagant and improbable situations disguise and mistaken Examples of round characters from various genres include Humbert Humbert of Nabokov's Lolita, Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler of Mitchell's Gone with the Wind, Vladimir Taltos of Brust's series of novels, Frodo Baggins of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, Hannibal Lecter from The Silence of the Lambs, Buffy Summers of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Magneto of the X-Men comics and films, Syaoran of Clamp's Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, Arthur Dent of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, V of V for Vendetta and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. This page is about the novelist For his father the politician see Vladimir Dmitrievich Nabokov. Lolita (1955 is a Novel by Vladimir Nabokov, first written in English and published in 1955 in Paris, later translated by the author Scarlett O'Hara (full name Katie Scarlett O'Hara Hamilton Kennedy Butler) is the Protagonist in Margaret Mitchell 's 1936 novel Gone with Rhett Butler is the antagonist of Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. Margaret Munnerlyn Mitchell Marsh ( November 8 1900 – August 16 1949) popularly known as Margaret Mitchell was an American This is about the 1936 American Novel. For the film see Gone with the Wind (film Gone with the Wind is a 1936 American Vlad Táltos is the central character of a series of novels written by Steven Brust and set on the planet Dragaera. Steven Karl Zoltán Brust (born November 23, 1955) is an American Fantasy and Science fiction author of Hungarian The Lord of the Rings is an epic Origin and development Thomas Harris has given few interviews and has never explained where he got inspiration for Hannibal Lecter but in a documentary for Hannibal Rising The Silence of the Lambs is a horror / Crime Novel by Thomas Harris, starring his popular villain Dr Buffy Summers is a fictional character from Joss Whedon 's Buffy the Vampire Slayer franchise Fictional narratives (and works of art exist beyond their completion e Magneto (alias Erik Magnus Lehnsherr, born Max Eisenhardt) is a Fictional character that appears in Comic books published by Marvel Uncanny X-Men, first published as simply The X-Men, is the flagship Marvel Comics Comic book series for the X-Men franchise X-Men is a 2000 Superhero film based on the fictional Marvel Comics characters of the same name. Syaoran and "Syaoran" are the main protagonists in CLAMP's fictional crossover manga series Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle and is a Japanese Mangaka group The group's Manga series are often made into Anime after release is an ongoing Manga series by Clamp. It is currently being serialized in Shōnen Magazine. For the Australian political activist see Albert Langer Arthur Philip Dent is a Fictional character, the hapless Protagonist The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a science fiction comedy series V is a Fictional character from the Comic book series V for Vendetta, created by Alan Moore and David Lloyd. V for Vendetta is a ten-issue Comic book Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle, DL (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930 was an Anglo-Scottish Author most noted for his stories about the Sherlock Holmes is a famous fictional detective of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries who first appeared in Publication in 1887

A flat character is distinguished by its lack of a realistic personality. Though the description of a flat character may be detailed and rich in defining characteristics, it falls short of the complexity associated with a round character. A number of stereotypical, or "stock" characters, have developed throughout the history of drama. A stereotype (from Greek: stereo + týpos = "solid impression" is a generalized perception of first impressions behaviors presumed by a group A stock character is one which relies heavily on cultural types or names for his or her personality manner of speech and other characteristics Drama is the specific mode of Fiction represented in Performance. Some of these characters include the country bumpkin, the con artist, and the city slicker. Yokel is a derogatory term referring to the Stereotype of unsophisticated country people A confidence trick or confidence game (also known as a bunko, con, flim flam, gaffle, grift, scam, scheme City slicker, a synonym for Fop, is an idiomatic expression for someone accustomed to a city or urban lifestyle and unsuited These characters are often the basis of flat characters, though elements of stock characters can be found in round characters as well. The commedia dell'arte, a form of improvisational theatre which originated in Italy, consists of performers acting as well-known stock characters in conventional situations. Commedia dell'Arte ( Italian: "the comedy of artists" is a form of Improvisational theatre that began in Italy in the 16th century Improvisational theatre (also known as improv or impro) is a form of Theatre in which the Actors use Improvisational acting techniques

Supporting characters are generally flat, as most minor roles do not require a great deal of complexity. A supporting character is a character of a Book, play, Video game, movie, television or Radio show other form In addition, experimental literature and postmodern fiction often intentionally make use of flat characters, even as protagonists. Experimental literature refers to written works - often Novels or Magazines - that place great emphasis on Innovations regarding technique and The term Postmodern literature is used to describe certain tendencies in post- World War II literature

In addition to people, characters may be aliens, animals,[6] gods, an artificial intelligence or, occasionally, inanimate objects. See also List of extraterrestrials in fiction In Popular cultures Life forms -especially intelligent life forms that are of extraterrestrial See also List of deities A deity is a Postulated Preternatural or Supernatural Being, who is always This is a sub-article of Artificial intelligence (AI, describing the different futuristic portrayals of fictional artificial intelligence in books and film

Dynamic vs. static

A dynamic character is the one who changes significantly during the course of the story. Changes considered to qualify a character as dynamic include changes in sight or understanding, changes in commitment, and changes in values. Understanding (also called intellection) is a psychological Process related to an abstract or physical object such as Person, situation or Personal commitment is the act or quality of voluntarily taking on or fulfilling Obligations What makes personal commitment "personal" is the voluntary aspect A personal and cultural value is a Relative ethic value, an assumption upon which implementation can be extrapolated Changes in circumstance, even physical circumstance, do not apply unless they result in some change within the character's self. The self is a key construct in several schools of Psychology, broadly referring to the cognitive representation of one's identity [7]

By definition, the protagonist is nearly always a dynamic character. The Protagonist or main character is the central figure of a story. In coming-of-age stories in particular, the protagonist often undergoes dramatic change, transforming from innocence to experience. A bildungsroman (ˈbɪldʊŋsroˌmaːn "novel of formation" is a Novelistic genre that arose during the German Enlightenment (and is regarded by some as Innocence is a term used to indicate a state of moral purity or general lack of Guilt, with respect to any kind of Crime, Sin, or wrongdoing Experience as a general concept comprises Knowledge of or skill in or Observation of some thing or some event gained through involvement in or Examples of dynamic characters include John the Savage of Huxley's Brave New World, Jay Gatsby of Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, Luke Skywalker from the original Star Wars Trilogy, Elizabeth Bennet of Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Harry, Ron and Hermione in the Harry Potter series, Denver of Morrison’s Beloved, and Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit. Brave New World is a 1932 Novel by Aldous Huxley. Set in the London of AD 2540 (632 A Aldous Leonard Huxley (26 July 1894 &ndash 22 November 1963 was an English writer and one of the most prominent members of the famous Huxley family. Brave New World is a 1932 Novel by Aldous Huxley. Set in the London of AD 2540 (632 A The Great Gatsby is a Novel by the American author F Scott Fitzgerald. Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24 1896 – December 21 1940 was an American writer of Novels and Short stories, whose works are evocative of the The Great Gatsby is a Novel by the American author F Scott Fitzgerald. Luke Skywalker is the main protagonist of the Star Wars universe portrayed by Mark Hamill in the films Star Wars Episode IV Star Wars is an epic Space opera franchise initially conceived by George Lucas during the 1970s and significantly expanded Elizabeth Bennet (sometimes referred to as Eliza or Lizzy) is a Fictional character and the main protagonist of Jane Austen 's Novel Jane Austen (16 Pride and Prejudice, first published on 28 January 1813, is the most famous of Jane Austen 's novels and one of the first " romantic Harry Potter is a series of seven Fantasy novels written by British author J The City and County of Denver (pronounced /ˈdɛnvɚ/ is the Capital and the most populous city of Colorado, in the United States Toni Morrison (born Chloe Anthony Wofford on February 18 1931 is a Nobel Prize -winning American author editor and professor Beloved is a 1987 Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Nobel laureate Toni Morrison. Bilbo Baggins is the protagonist of The Hobbit and also makes an appearance in The Lord of the Rings, two of the most well-known of The Hobbit or There and Back Again is an award-winning fantasy

Antagonists, such as Salieri of Shaffer's Amadeus, are frequently dynamic as well. An antagonist (from Greek ανταγωνιστής - antagonistes, "opponent competitor rival" is a character or Antonio Salieri ( 18 August 1750 &ndash 7 May 1825) was an Italian Composer and conductor. Sir Peter Levin Shaffer (born May 15, 1926) is an English Dramatist, author of numerous award-winning plays several of which have been filmed Amadeus is a Stage play written in 1979 by Peter Shaffer, loosely based on the lives of the Composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

In contrast, a static character does not undergo significant change. A static character is a literary character that remains basically unchanged throughout a work. Whether round or flat, their personalities remain essentially stable throughout the course of the story. This is commonly done with secondary characters in order to let them serve as thematic or plot elements.

Supporting characters and major characters other than the protagonist are generally static, though exceptions do occur. A supporting character is a character of a Book, play, Video game, movie, television or Radio show other form

A non-fictional character is a character that actually exists or existed in history, though their exploits in the story may differ from their historical activities. A nonfictional character (sometimes called a historical character) is a character in a Narrative that was a real-life figure whether played by

Some works of fiction have attempted to portray a story without the use of characters (James Joyce's Finnegans Wake is one of the most famous examples). James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 &ndash 13 January 1941 was an Irish expatriate writer widely considered to be one of the most influential writers of the Finnegans Wake is a fictional work by James Joyce, published in 1939 In animations and puppetry, different aspects of a given character are rendered separately using different modalities. The bouncing ball animation (below consists of these 6 frames Puppetry is a form of Theatre or Performance which involves the Manipulation of Puppets. In animation, for example, mannerisms and behavior are rendered by animators, while voices are rendered by voice actors. An animator is an Artist who creates multiple images called frames and Key frames that form an illusion of movement called Animation when rapidly displayed Voice acting is the art of providing voices for animated characters (including those in feature films television series animated shorts and Video games) and In machinima, voices are sometimes rendered using speech synthesis. Machinima (məˈʃiːnəmə or /məˈʃɪnəmə/ Speech synthesis is the artificial production of human speech.

Some ways of reading characters

Readers vary greatly in how they understand fictional characters. The most extreme ways of reading fictional characters would be to think of them exactly as real people or to think of them as purely artistic creations that have everything to do with craft and nothing to do with real life. Most styles of reading fall somewhere in between.

Character as symbol

In some readings, certain characters are understood to represent a given quality or abstraction. Rather than simply being people, these characters stand for something larger. Many characters in Western literature have been read as Christ symbols, for example. Western literature refers to the Literature of the Indo-European languages, as well as several languages geographically or historically related to the Indo-European Christ is the English term for the Greek ( Khristós) meaning "the anointed " Other characters have been read as symbolism of capitalist greed (as in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby), the futility of fulfilling the American Dream, or quixotic romanticism (Don Quixote), or even feminism (Lara Croft). "Symbolic" redirects here For other uses see Symbolism (disambiguation and Symbolic (disambiguation. Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24 1896 – December 21 1940 was an American writer of Novels and Short stories, whose works are evocative of the The Great Gatsby is a Novel by the American author F Scott Fitzgerald. Quixotism is the description of a person or an act that is caught up in the romance of noble deeds and the pursuit of unreachable goals es '''''Don Quixote''''' (, see spelling and pronunciation below fully titled es '''''El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha''''' ("The Ingenious Hidalgo Don Lara Croft is a Fictional character and the protagonist of Eidos Interactive 's Tomb Raider video game series Three of the principal characters in Lord of the Flies can be said to symbolize elements of civilization: Ralph represents the civilizing instinct; Jack represents the savage instinct; Piggy represents the rational side of human nature; while Simon represents spiritual. Lord of the Flies is an allegorical Novel by Nobel Prize -winning author William Golding.

Character as representative

Another way of reading characters symbolically is to understand each character as a representative of a certain group of people. For example, Bigger Thomas of Native Son by Richard Wright is often seen as representative of young black men in the 1930s, doomed to a life of poverty and exploitation. Native Son (1940 is a novel by American author Richard Wright. Richard Wright may refer to Richard Wright (musician (1943–2008 also known as Rick Wright founding member of Pink Floyd Richard B

Many practitioners of cultural criticism and feminist criticism focus their analysis of characters on cultural stereotypes. A cultural critic is a Critic of a given Culture, usually as a whole and typically on a radical basis A stereotype (from Greek: stereo + týpos = "solid impression" is a generalized perception of first impressions behaviors presumed by a group In particular, they consider the ways in which authors rely on and/or work against stereotypes when they create their characters. Such critics, for example, would read Native Son in relation to racist stereotypes of African American men as sexually violent (especially against white women). List of racism-related topics|Racism by country Racism, by its simplest definition is the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that African Americans or Black Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa In reading Bigger Thomas' character, one could ask in what ways Richard Wright relied on these stereotypes to create a violent African-American male character and in what ways he fought against them by making that character the protagonist of the novel rather than an anonymous villain. Richard Wright may refer to Richard Wright (musician (1943–2008 also known as Rick Wright founding member of Pink Floyd Richard B The Protagonist or main character is the central figure of a story.

Often, readings that focus on stereotypes focus on minor characters or stock characters, such as the ubiquitous sambo characters in early cinema, since those are the characters that tend to rely most heavily on stereotypes. A stock character is one which relies heavily on cultural types or names for his or her personality manner of speech and other characteristics Sambo is a racial term for a person with mixed Amerindian and African heritage in the Caribbean, also for a black or South Asian person

Characters as historical or biographical references

Sometimes characters obviously represent important historical figures. For example, Nazi-hunter Yakov Liebermann in The Boys from Brazil by Ira Levin is often compared to real life Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal, and corrupted populist politician Willie Stark from All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren is often compared to Louisiana governor Huey P. Long. The Boys from Brazil ( 1976) is a thriller Novel by Ira Levin. Ira Levin ( August 27 1929 &ndash November 12 2007) was an American Novelist, Playwright, and Songwriter Simon Wiesenthal ( Buczacz, December 31, 1908 &ndash Vienna, September 20, 2005) was an Austrian Jewish All the King's Men is a Novel by Robert Penn Warren, first published in 1946 Robert Penn Warren (April 24 1905 &ndash September 15 1989 was an American poet Novelist, and literary critic and was one of the founders of New Criticism. The State of Louisiana ( or, État de Louisiane, pronounced) is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America Huey Pierce Long Jr ( August 30, 1893 September 10, 1935) nicknamed The Kingfish, was an American Politician

Other times, authors base characters on people from their own personal lives. Glenarvon by Lady Caroline Lamb chronicles her love affair with Lord Byron, who is thinly disguised as the title character. The Lady Caroline Lamb ( 13 November 1785 &ndash 26 January 1828) was a novelist and British Aristocrat, the only daughter Nicole, a destructive, mentally ill woman in Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is often seen as a fictionalized version of Fitzgerald's wife, Zelda. Tender Is the Night is an English language novel by F Scott Fitzgerald. Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24 1896 – December 21 1940 was an American writer of Novels and Short stories, whose works are evocative of the Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald (July 24 1900 – March 10 1948 born Zelda Sayre in Montgomery Alabama, was a novelist and the wife of writer F

Perhaps because so many people enjoy imagining characters as real people, many critics devote their time to seeking out real people on whom literary figures were likely based. Frequently authors base stories on themselves or their loved ones. Sometimes writers create composite characters based on two or more individuals. A composite character is a character in a fictional work that is composed of two or more individuals

Character as words

Some language- or text-oriented critics emphasize that characters are nothing more than certain conventional uses of words on a page: names or even just pronouns repeated throughout a text. They refer to characters as functions of the text. Some critics go so far as to suggest that even authors do not exist outside the texts that construct them.

Character as patient: psychoanalytic readings

Psychoanalytic criticism usually treats characters as real people possessing complex psyches. Psychoanalytic literary criticism refers to Literary criticism which in method concept theory, or form is influenced by the tradition of Psychoanalysis Psychoanalytic critics approach literary characters as an analyst would treat a patient, searching their dreams, past, and behavior for explanations of their fictional situations.

Alternatively, some psychoanalytic critics read characters as mirrors for the audience's psychological fears and desires. Rather than representing realistic psyches then, fictional characters offer readers a way to act out psychological dramas of their own in symbolic and often hyperbolic form. Hyperbole (haɪˈpɝːbəli hye-PER-buh-lee; "HYE-per-bowl" is a mispronunciation comes from Greek "υπερβολή" (meaning exaggeration and is a The classic example of this would be Freud's reading of Oedipus (and Hamlet, for that matter) as emblematic of the Oedipus complex (a child's fantasy of killing his father to possess his mother). Sigmund Freud (ˈziːkmʊnt ˈfʁɔʏt born Sigismund Shlomo Freud (May 6 1856 &ndash September 23 1939 was an Austrian Psychiatrist who founded Oedipus (pronounced /ˈɛdəpəs/ in American English or /ˈiːdəpəs/ in British English; Greek: Oidípous meaning "swollen-footed" Hamlet is a Tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601 The Oedipus complex, in Freudian Psychoanalysis, is named after the Greek mythical character Oedipus, who unknowingly kills his father

This form of reading persists today in much film criticism. Film review redirects here for the similar sounding Film revue please visit Revue#Film revues. The feminist critic Laura Mulvey is considered a pioneer in the field. Laura Mulvey (born August 15, 1941) was educated at St Hilda's College, Oxford. Her groundbreaking 1975 article, "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema",[8] analyzed the role of the male viewer of conventional narrative cinema as fetishist, using psychoanalysis "as a political weapon, demonstrating the way the unconscious of patriarchal society has structured film form. Sexual fetishism, or erotic fetishism, is the Sexual attraction to materials and objects not conventionally viewed as being sexual in nature "

Unusual uses

Postmodern fiction frequently incorporates real characters into fictional and even realistic surroundings. The term Postmodern literature is used to describe certain tendencies in post- World War II literature In film, the appearance of a real person as himself inside of a fictional story is a type of cameo. A cameo role or cameo appearance (often shortened to just cameo) is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the Performing arts, such as For instance, Woody Allen's Annie Hall has Allen's character call in Marshall McLuhan to resolve a disagreement. Woody Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; December 1 1935 is an American Film director, Writer, Actor, Comedian, and Annie Hall is a 1977 Romantic comedy film directed by Woody Allen from a script he co-wrote with Marshall Brickman. A prominent example of this approach is Being John Malkovich, in which the actor John Malkovich plays the character John Malkovich (though the real actor and the character have different middle names). Being John Malkovich is a 1999 Film written by Charlie Kaufman and directed by Spike Jonze. John Gavin Malkovich (born December 9, 1953) is an Emmy Award -winning two-time Academy Award -nominated American Actor

In some experimental fiction, the author acts as a character within his own text. One early example is Niebla ("Fog") by Miguel de Unamuno (1907), in which the main character visits Unamuno in his office to discuss his fate in the novel. Mist (Niebla is a Novel written by Miguel de Unamuno and published in 1914 Miguel de Unamuno y Jugo ( September 29, 1864 &ndash December 31, 1936) was an Essayist Novelist poet, playwright Paul Auster also employs this device in his novel City of Glass (1985), which opens with the main character getting a phone call for Paul Auster. Paul Benjamin Auster (born February 3, 1947, Newark New Jersey) is a Brooklyn -based author known for works blending Absurdism At first the main character explains that the caller has reached a wrong number, but eventually he decides to pretend to be Auster and see where it leads him. In Immortality by Milan Kundera, the author references himself in a storyline seemingly separate from that of his fictional characters, but at the end of the novel, Kundera meets his own characters. Milan Kundera (ˈmɪlan ˈkundɛra (born April 1, 1929, in Brno, Czechoslovakia) is a French Writer of Czech Other authors who have manifested themselves within the text include Kurt Vonnegut (notably in Breakfast of Champions), Dave Sim, in his comic book series Cerebus, and Stephen King in his Dark Tower series. Kurt Vonnegut Jr (November 11 1922 – April 11 2007 (ˈvɒnəgət was a prolific and genre-bending American Novelist known for works blending Satire, Black Breakfast of Champions or Goodbye Blue Monday is a 1973 novel by the American author Kurt Vonnegut. David Victor Sim (born May 17 1956 in Hamilton, Ontario) is a Canadian Comic book Writer and Artist, best known as the A comic book (often shortened to simply comic and sometimes called a comic paper or comic magazine) is a Magazine or Book of narrative Cerebus the Aardvark, or simply Cerebus ( IPA: ˈsɛrəbʌs is an award-winning independent comic book, written and illustrated by Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American Author, Screenwriter, Musician, Columnist, The Dark Tower is a series of seven books written by American author Stephen King between 1970 and 2004

With the rise of the "star" system in Hollywood, many famous actors are so familiar that it can be hard to limit our reading of their character to a single film. In some sense, Bruce Lee is always Bruce Lee, Woody Allen is always Woody Allen, Tom Cruise is always Tom Cruise, John Cusack is always John Cuscack and Harrison Ford is always Harrison Ford; all often portray characters that are very alike, so audiences fuse the star persona with the characters they tend to play, a principle explored in the Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle Last Action Hero. Bruce Lee ( November 27 1940 – July 20 1973 was an American-born Martial artist, Philosopher, instructor, Martial arts actor and the Woody Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; December 1 1935 is an American Film director, Writer, Actor, Comedian, and Thomas Cruise Mapother IV ( born July 3 1962 better known by his screen name Tom Cruise, is an American Actor and Film producer John Paul Cusack (born June 28, 1966) is an American Film actor and Screenwriter. Harrison Ford (born July 13, 1942) is an Academy Award - and BAFTA -nominated as well as Golden Globe -winning American Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger ( German ˌaɐnɔlt aloʏs ˈʃvaɐtsənɛɡɐ born July 30 1947 is an Austrian American Bodybuilder, Actor Last Action Hero is a 1993 action comedy Film directed by John McTiernan.

Some fiction and drama make constant reference to a character who is never seen. Unseen characters are never directly observed by the audience but are only described by other characters This often becomes a sort of joke with the audience. This device is the centrepoint of one of the most unusual and original plays of the 20th century, Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot, in which Godot of the title never arrives. Samuel Barclay Beckett (13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989 was an Irish Writer, Dramatist and poet Waiting for Godot is a play by Samuel Beckett, in which two characters wait for someone named Godot who never arrives

See also

References

  1. ^ The Emergence of Archetypes in Present-Day Science And Its Significance for a Contemporary Philosophy of Nature by Charles Card on the Compiler Press Complete World Copyright Website,
  2. ^ Joseph Campbell Biography
  3. ^ Dramatica: A New Theory of Story by Fourth Edition, Screenplay Systems Incorporated, 2001, online @ dramatica.com; Tenth Anniversary Edition, Write Brothers, Inc. Amalgamation or amalgam, when used to refer to a fictional character or place refers to one that was created by combining or is perceived to be a combination of several other Fiction is the telling of stories which are not real More specifically fiction is an imaginative form of Narrative, one of the four basic Rhetorical modes. Mythos (Aristotle In literature the plot comprises all the events in a story particularly rendered towards the achievement of some particular Artistic or Emotional In Fiction, the setting of a story includes the time location and circumstances in which it takes place A theme, from Old French tesme, is a broad idea in a story or literary work or a message or lesson conveyed by a written text Writing style is the manner in which a writer addresses a matter in prose a manner which reveals the writer's personality or 'voice Fiction writing any kind of writing that is not factual Fictional writing most often takes the form of a story meant to convey an author's point of view or simply to entertain A fictional universe is a self-consistent fictional setting with unique background elements such as an imaginary history or geography and possibly fantasy or science A grand argument story is a type of story that is intended to be conceptually complete and to answer a core Argument from both an Emotionally and Logically This article lists the fictitious people, ie nonexistent people, which unlike fictional people, are those somebody has claimed to actually exist A player character or playable character (PC is a Fictional character in a Video game or Role playing game who is controlled or controllable , 2004, ISBN 091897304X
  4. ^ A Primer on Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious. by Carolyn Kaufman online at Archetype Writing: The Fiction Writers' Guide to Psychology.
  5. ^ Critical Concepts: Flat and Round Characterization
  6. ^ (see anthropomorphism)
  7. ^ Critical Concepts: "Static" and "Dynamic" Characterization
  8. ^ Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema (1975) - Laura Mulvey
Anthropomorphism is the attribution of uniquely Human characteristics to non-human creatures and beings natural and supernatural phenomena material states and objects

Dictionary

fictional character

-noun

  1. A character in a work of fiction.
© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
 Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic