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I posted this question to Ask Metafilter and thought I'd boost the discussion here:
The Protagonist: What can you tell me?I am fascinated by the concept of 'The Protagonist'. Whether this be in fiction, mythology or used as a metaphor for how one perceives oneself (your 'life' being the narrative within which you exist) I desire a few new angles on this ancient human construct.
- Do you know of any theories / research / writings on the protagonist?
- What books / movies / myths etc. have you come across from which a protagonist is COMPLETELY absent?
- Or any such fiction/mythology with an interesting spin on the traditional protagonist?
Basically anything which comes to mind would be fascinating, thanks a lot... -
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CommentAuthorDr. Orphusi
- CommentTimeJun 8th 2006
Jung's work on psychological archetypes is definitely relevant. -
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I often wonder about the Hero-Antihero dimension, which gives rise to my favorite of devices, moral ambiguity...A narrative without a protagonist!...an ensemble comes to mind but thats more like a number of co-equal agonistes.Maybe the 'gods eye view' narrative perspective can decrease the significance of the individual in a story, but then does god become the protagonist?...dada? nihilism?..nah, I think that, universally, sentience is so self centered as to preclude a nullagonist tale.
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I want to write a story which allows the reader to present their own protagonist upon the tale. I read so much literature in which it is obvious how the author has mirrored themself in their central characters. i would like to move away from this so completely that the protagonist becomes the reader's own.
The world is a construct of the mind, rich in the schemata of an individual's construction. This construction is not conscious, yet objects and concepts (stimulus) in the world are assimilated into frameworks which a human uses to traverse reality.
In mythology and religion, most specifically Christianity, the best protagonists often become constructed via the eternal assimilation of stimulus. That is, what Hercules, Jesus and Luke Skywalker all have in common is that they are somehow devoid of a final form - as in Plato's ideal forms. They are what I have called a 'blank protagonist', though where this phrase comes from I cannot recall. In many ways these protagonists have the capacity to constantly alter their form through the assimilation of newer and widely varied stimulus. Jesus is every believer's own construction, he reflects their world and not the world of his creators because in a sense he is transcendant - i.e. if he didn't exist his identity would have created itself, the strength of his purpose is so much strionger than the mere truth of his actual existence.
What would happen if a protagonist could be built, in such a framework, which somehow had these qualities? Every reader which came across such a character would assimilate different stimulus into its schema and thus the character would transcend the author's original imaginings...
I suppose many would say that this happens to some degree with all fiction, entities within that fiction are necessarily going to become more than the author intended. The fact that this is such an acceptable fact should go some way to making the manipulation of this capacity not so difficult to imagine.
I want to write a story in which the 'protagonist' DOES NOT EXIST in any form other than that constructed by the reader. The way the reader forms the protagonist will obviously have dramatic effects on any story which has been written.
Perhaps the traditional book is not the best medium within which this could take place.
Am I talking nonsense?
(Previous talk of this nature has gone on here, here here and here) -
didn't lose too much this time...I was saying your blank protagonist could have no internal monologue, nothing to separate it from the reader...maybe just sensoria, presenting the reader with situations they need to interpret themselves. Then how do you anticipate the readers responses? Hmmm......OR perhaps, like the gospels, a story told in hearsay? Anything so long as it discloses nothing directly about the protag, well everything and nothing. Now I just had a flash....a detailed hearsay story about a protag that may or may not exist (bloody gospels again)...or at least the 'Life of Brian'......
I think also that a traditional book is the most flexible.....the special effects are unlimited and really inexpensive........a few words can paint a very big picture.
Now I'll try to read a few links before my son throws me off the computer..... -
Where I meant a divergence from the traditional book was ore in the direction of multifunctional, interative literature, which I predict will arrive not too long after the digital book.
Sony is already trying to flood the market with their eReader in a similar way to how Apple's iPod took on parasitic proportions. I don't feel like this will kill off the paper book, just as iPods haven't killed off cds, but new things will emerge fro the eReaders wake, such as podcasts or ortable video for the iPod.
Interactive literature could transcend the usual formal genres, and literally ancient narrative structures and become something much more. Perhaps books will connect over the internet with other users and stories will interlink in a mass AI system with blends each reader's experience into an entity even the original author could never have predicted.
The words 'read' and 'reader' will have to be redrafted...
I hope, for here perhaps my blank protagonist will naturally emerge. -
This sounds like my life.........my story is interlinked in a mass Natural Intelligence system that blends my experience with others creating an unpredictable future.
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