educate me

[ljgeoff]

a couple of days ago, matociquala wrote: Page 327, and I just figured out what the thematic freight of the book is.

I sat for a moment, looking at the words. Hmm. Thematic freight. I don't know what that phrase means. Thematic -- the theme of the book. Freight -- something that's carried? Something that's heavy?

What's the difference between a theme and the thematic freight?

For example, in LoTR, one theme is that power corrupts. Sauraman is corrupted, and both Gandalf and Galadriel fear the corruption that the power of the ring might bring. So, what is the thematic freight?

And what carries the thematic freight? Scenes? Dialog? Characters? So, if the theme is that power corrupts, the scene where Galadriel gives Frodo the vision of the Dark Queen, and turns down the ring -- that would be a scene that carries the thematic freight?

Comments

[enggirl.livejournal.com]

Oh god--my head just exploded. I read that post on her blog yesterday and thought that she meant the big, *heavy* theme of the book--that overreaching idea that sometimes hides behind the plot, characters, and tinier themes. I suppose it could be the term she uses to describe that... Kind of like on Top Chef when the contestants talk about "flavor profiles" all the time; I wonder if that's just a fancy word for, you know, TASTE.

I'm just afraid that it *IS* something newish that we haven't been clued in to. crap.

[anansi133.livejournal.com]

That's a new one on me too. I googled it, and it's kind of fun seeing how many contexts you can find for it.

The way the image comes to me, is of an idea that's bigger than the storyteller allows for. There's a tiny opening for that idea to come through, but the idea is so powerful that the opening gets all stretched out of shape by the time the audience is done with it. What's left afterwards, isn't pretty to look at.

I think I will try to avoid thematic freight in my art.

[ljgeoff.livejournal.com]

Ah, we discussed this at VP -- the preconcieved notions that people bring to the work, and attach to the work.

I didn't get the feeling from Bear that that's what she was talking about, but perhaps. Hm.