The leitmotif in literature is the main idea, which runs through the whole work with a red line. Initially, this term is musical, and literary critics, without thinking twice, borrowed it. The word “leitmotif” comes from the German das Leitmotiv, and literally it translates as “main motive” or “leading motive”.
Both in music and in literature
In a musical work, the leitmotif is the main melody, theme, or musical turn that is played out in the composition. It can be said that most of the compositions are a melody taken as a basis, which gives different variations. This melody is called the leitmotif. The meaning of the word “leitmotif” in the literature can be understood on an intuitive level, since the word “motive” is in the active vocabulary of most people. An emotional plan, concept, or the main theme of one or several works, the entire work of a writer or his works in a particular period — that is the keynote.
Music as a Thought and a Feeling
The musician and teacher Friedrich Wilhelm Jens first introduced the concept of “leitmotif” into music, and the famous German composer Richard Wagner began to actively use it in his works. Hans von Wolzogen used the term “leitmotif” most often, especially when he spoke about the works of Wagner's authorship. Since Richard Wagner wrote long operas of a different nature and content, the use of the leitmotif was mandatory and even natural for him, because it was this way that it was easiest to keep a certain atmosphere and keep the listener in the right mood. Even his shortest musical works compel the listener to give up everything and devote himself only to listening to music, because the leitmotifs used by Wagner cannot leave anyone indifferent.
Lost souls and lack of hope
It is best to explain literary terms with concrete examples, and in this case, writers of the so-called “lost generation” are ideal. So, Erich Maria Remarque wrote about completely different people and rarely used the same characters in several of his works, however, the leitmotif of his work is human despair and self-search after the horrors of war.
Similar or identical ideas were used in their books by other representatives of this group of writers. Their main leitmotifs are the inability to live normally without a homeland, the denial of the future after participating in hostilities, and complete nihilism based on a cynical attitude to life and a lack of faith in the best. Another famous representative of writers of the lost generation is Ernest Hemingway, in whose books there is more softness, but in general the atmosphere in them is very similar to the one that is always felt in the works of Erich Remarque.
Pretend - match!
In general, the leitmotifs are something not only clearly observed in the work, but also barely perceptible, hidden between the lines. Sometimes the leitmotif may be the mood. For example, we can say that in their work the writers of early postmodernism use the leitmotif of the conflict of the individual with itself, the irrationality of the world around us and the importance of sincere emotions and feelings. Most often, when a writer chooses for himself a certain direction in which he would like to create, he gets acquainted with the main topics that affect his colleagues. For example, if adherents of naturalism suddenly start to twist from descriptions of explicit scenes, and adherents of realism - tell how the fairy-tale visited the main character in their right mind, then colleagues will not understand and will not support such an initiative. True, the correct keynotes are the basis, rather, for classical writers, and in modern literature these boundaries have long been erased.
How to distinguish good from bad literature?
It is noteworthy that the leitmotif, which is beaten by the writer in one or more works, forms his style and manner of writing. The use of several selected topics, as well as the peculiar construction of dialogues and the use of figurative-stylistic means, is precisely what distinguishes a particular writer from hundreds of others. It is believed that a good writer is very easy to distinguish from a mediocre one. If the author can be recognized in several paragraphs or at least pages, then he managed to create his own style and characteristic handwriting, for which readers loved him. In mass literature and fiction, such a phenomenon is almost never observed, because the main emphasis in it is on the statement of facts and a description of events, rather than the feelings and thoughts of the characters. The keynotes are considered to be an unnecessary element for mass literature, because such books are most often read once and immediately forgotten.
Literary teachings for the smallest
Surprisingly, such a phenomenon as the leitmotif is observed even in children's literature. Of course, in most fairy tales for kids, the theme and the main idea contain overt teachings and vivid morality, but they are just a very effective leitmotif. By the tone of writing a fairy tale, you can always distinguish it from other genres of literature, even if the work has gone through several translation processes. In works for children, such leitmotifs should be presented as clearly and concretely as possible, but sometimes writers suggest that little readers reflect on their own. If in “adult” literature the leitmotif is used more likely to reveal the author’s intention, then in fairy tales and instructive stories it is specially made obvious by placing it in the center of the work and developing the plot based on it.