List of terms in literary, art, and film criticism

Archetype

An archetype is a generic idealized model of something, often a character type. Distinguished from a stereotype: A stereotype is a simplified set of beliefs about a person or group of people based on some other feature, and often drawn not from personal experience but from cultural traditional beliefs. An archetype is more of an example; the ultimate example of a particular type of character or role; the Platonic ideal of that role. For example, an archetypal mother figure might be someone who loves her children, sacrifices for them, places their needs above her own, and so on. The essential characteristics that embody "motherhood" are emphasized; non-essential characteristics are not part of the archetype itself. A stereotypical mother, on the other hand, may include the archetypal features of motherhood, but also includes whatever extraneous and not necessarily related features have come to be associated with motherhood in that culture. For instance, in the US in the 1950s, a stereotypical mother might be over-protective, unable to discipline, a middle-class white stay-at-home mom who likes to cook, doesn't drink, and is sweetly subordinate to her husband.

Characterization

Characterization is the process of creating fictional characters in a work. It involves all the things which create personality and biography in real world: the basic facts about the character; the character's life history; its personality and psychological profile; its beliefs, philosophies, intentions, hopes, fears, etc.; its interactions with its society; and so on. The process of characterization involves how that information is conveyed to the reader or audience: use of stereotypes and characterization shortcuts to create associations in the reader/audience; internal monologue; dialogue; the character's actions; discussion of the character by other characters; and so on. Characterization is one of the most significant aspects of feminist criticism, because characterization fundamentally relates to how the author/creators view and create fictional people, what they give the reader/audience, and how the reader/audience has an opportunity to interact with a work. Shallow characterization of female characters, reliance on sex and gender stereotypes, quick characterization shortcuts (he was abused as a child so is either prone to abusing as an adult, or is a damaged adult), and so on, are a major symptom of an authorial worldview crippled by sexism.

Comedy

Classically a comedy is a work which portrays some conflict between the protagonist and another figure or aspect of society; the conflict was a less serious treatment than tragic conflicts, which were often an internal conflict of the protagonist, or a conflict between the protagonist and some great force of nature, society, or fate. Over time the "less serious" aspect came to mean conflict that ended happily, and currently comedy also stands to works which are intended to provoke laughter or use humor throughout.

Critical theory

Critical theory is the review and study of social relations; a type of political economy. It relates to criticism (the review of literary or cultural products) as a mode of criticism.

Criticism

In analysis of literary, filmic, artistic or other cultural products / works, "criticism" is the evaluation and assessment of a work; it is not simply negative commentary, although it may include negative commentary. A "critic" is one who engages in criticism, typically writing reviews of works. Although in popular parlance critics have come to be associated with negative reviews ("film critics"), in academic and scholarly uses the term simply means detailed analysis of the work.

Drama

In cultural works, a "drama" is a type of work involving performance by actors; operas, theatrical works, TV productions, films, radio broadcasts, and so on, are all dramas; other types of performance art (such as dance or spoken word poetry) may involve dramatic skills or elements. As a genre or mode of writing, "drama" is a serious work, contrasted with works that are not serious (comedy). It may be paired with works that focus on particular aspects (such as an action-drama). In other contexts, drama may suggest seriousness of action and character responses that involve heightened emotional responses. The heightened emotion characteristic of dramas, whether performed or simply serious, has given rise to the use of the term "drama" to simply describe heightened emotionality in every day life, as in "drama queens" or "I don't want all this drama in a relationship."

Heroine / Hero

The heroine/hero in a literary or cultural work is usually a central figure in the action, who attempts to do "good", and whose character/personality/nature or acts significantly define that character. A tragic heroine or hero is one who has a significant flaw or life history in addition to the larger heroic nature.

Leitmotif

A recurring musical element, typically a short melody, that is associated with a particular person, place or idea.

Motif

a recurring element with symbolic significance to the work; the motif represents some idea.

Narrative

Narrative is another word for a story or a work of art, particularly those with a linear flow; the term is related to "narrate", meaning to tell a story. "The narrative" can also be used as a synonym for "the plot". "Narrative" may also mean the framework within which events are seen.

Plot

The plot is the events of a story or work, particularly when those events can be constructed in some linear fashion that guides the development of a theme or characterization within the work.

Poetry

Poetry is a literary mode distinguished principally from prose. Compared with prose, poetry typically uses non-ordinary language rhythms and patterns. The blurring of the modes can be seen in concepts such as "prose poetry" which is a type of poetry that uses prose forms, or a type of prose work which uses poetic forms.

Prose

Prose is a literary mode distinguished principally from poetry. Compared with poetry, prose typically uses the rhythms and patterns of spoken language. The blurring of the modes can be seen in concepts such as "prose poetry" which is a type of poetry that uses prose forms, or a type of prose work which uses poetic forms.

Protagonist

The protagonist is the central figure of the story; often but not always the narrator or viewpoint character. The protagonist need not be the hero nor the narrator.

Romance

Classically a romance is simply a dramatic narrative, often focusing on some particular aspect of a work; as in, a planetary romance which focuses on the exploration and discovery and unveiling of another planet. The modern "romance" genre specifically refers to a "romantic love" narrative: characters that interact and have sexually romantic feelings toward one another.

Spoiler

Closely tied to plot and narrative, a "spoiler" is information which reveals information about the plot or narrative outside the context of the work itself.

Stock character

A character that is a particular literary stereotype. Literary stereotypes are often drawn from real-life cultural stereotypes, including racist, sexist, and other generalized sets of beliefs about a group of people based on some shared characteristic (such as ethnicity, class, language, sexuality, political belief, gender, etc.).

Subject

The literal, actual characters, actions, or events of a work.

Theme

The broad idea, message or lesson of a work; a work can contain multiple themes; the idea conveyed by the work. The "moral of the story" is its theme, or one of its themes. Thematic analysis is a central concern of literary criticism.

Topos

A literary convention; a familiar and repeated symbol, theme, motif, plot device, character, etc., that recurs throughout a work in a particular genre

Tragedy

Classically and in literary theory, tragedy is a literary form in which a central character of the work suffers some terrible consequence as a result of their own character flaw or some power beyond themselves, such as supernatural entities, a curse, fate, or society. Popularly, the term may also be applied to any work with an "unhappy" ending; as in, a romance in which the characters don't end up together.

Trope

Non-ordinary use of figurative language, such as metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, irony, etc.

Worldbuilding

Like characterization, "world building" is the process of building a society for characters and action. The concept emerged from SF when the worlds built might be literal worlds -- planets -- with native biology, sociology, and so on. But worldbuilding actually has to happen in any work of fiction, and the extent to which a world is successfully built within the work itself, as opposed to relying on the popular understanding of the time in which the work was created, has an effect on its universality and ability to reach audiences beyond its original.