(INTG) Terms and Strategies Lesson

Motifs and Flashbacks

Motif

In a narrative, a motif is any recurring element that has symbolic significance in a story. Through its repetition, a motif can help produce other narrative (or literary) aspects such as theme or mood.

A narrative motif can be created through the use of imagery, structural components, language, and other narrative elements. The flute in Arthur Miller's play Death of a Salesman is a recurrent sound motif that conveys rural and idyllic notions. Another example from modern American literature is the green light found in the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

While it may appear interchangeable with the related concept theme, the term 'motif' does differ somewhat in usage. Any number of narrative elements with symbolic significance can be classified as motifs - whether they are images, spoken or written phrases, structural or stylistic devices, or other elements like sound, physical movement, or visual components in dramatic narratives. To distinguish between a motif and theme a general rule is that a theme is abstract and a motif is concrete. A motif is not necessarily a theme. A theme is usually defined as a message, statement, or idea, while a motif is simply a detail repeated for larger symbolic meaning.

Flashback

Flashback is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point the story has reached. Flashbacks are often used to recount events that happened before the story's primary sequence of events or to fill in crucial backstory.

[CC BY 4.0] UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED | IMAGES: LICENSED AND USED ACCORDING TO TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION