Aristotle in ancient times connected 2 concepts: time and space. Then he drew attention to the continuity and infinity of the space-time continuum Albert Einstein.
In Russia, the concept of a chronotope was applied by the famous physiologist Ukhtomsky. He combined the words of Greek origin: chronos - "time" and "topos" - a place. And after him, the concept was used by the philologist and literary critic M. M. Bakhtin.
What is a chronotope in the literature?
The concept of “chronotope” was introduced into literary criticism by Mikhail Bakhtin. However, in the literature this word has a different meaning. In his article, where the philologist examined the importance of time and space in literary works, starting with ancient epics, the scientist mentioned that he uses the concept of a chronotope metaphorically. He emphasized precisely the inseparability of these concepts. The plot of the work greatly depends on the time chosen by the author.
A chronotope is a unity of place and time in a literary work. The writer must correctly enter the characters and the series of events at selected times. To artistically describe the time and place of each scene is an important task, and if the novice writer could not cope with it, the text will be raw and poorly readable.
According to the thoughts of Mikhail Bakhtin, time is the leading characteristic of the chronotope. Space only concretizes, supplements. Space and objects in space make time tangible. Each point in time becomes visible due to the material space and the course of events in it.
Bakhtin's article on chronotopes
In his article “Forms of time and a chronotope in a novel,” the scientist analyzes the description of time and actions within space in several works. Mentioned "Golden Donkey" of Apuleius, which has come from antiquity in full, the famous novel by Dante Alighieri, the novel "Gargantua and Pantagruel" F. Rabelais, and others. In total, Bakhtin has 10 chapters. In the last chapter 10, the literary critic describes the forms of the chronotope and the content that is often enclosed in them.
Mikhail Bakhtin combined philological and philosophical studies in his works. Thanks to the analysis of chronotopes, modern writers find it much easier to plot.
Forms of time and chronotope in the novel
If the world of the work is completely mystical, it should be well described. The reader cannot completely immerse himself in a story or a novel unless important details are missing in the description of this world or inexcusable logical errors are encountered in the narrative.
So, what worlds did Bakhtin describe? The era of the story greatly affects the character and the course of events. Let us describe the forms of chronotope identified by Bakhtin.
- The roads . Strangers can meet on the road, a conversation may begin and a story begins.
- The castle . In the novel there will be a drama connected with the patrimonial past. Most likely, the narrative space is limited. The feudal past is always described in castles; great personalities are mentioned - kings, dukes. Present in the narrative of the gallery with portraits, valuables, expensive antiques. The plot can unfold around the violated right of inheritance or knightly confrontation, or to protect the dignity of the knight and his lady.
- Living room . This chronotope is clearly manifested in Balzac's novels. Living rooms - this is the place of origin of specific salon intrigues, this is an analysis of the characters of the characters and a search for context in actions.
- Provincial quiet town. The description of the city and its inhabitants implies a confined space where the passage of time is almost not described, since in the province everything goes on and nothing changes.
- The threshold . This is a metaphorical space-time, where the basis of the novel is a crisis situation. A story is built on the threshold, where the hero’s biography is missing. Here the acute problem of a change in the consciousness of society arises.
These chronotopes prevailed in the novels of bygone eras. The scientific article was published at the beginning of the 20th century, the fantastic chronotopes that are popular today are not yet covered.
Idyllic or folk chronotope
Separately, it is necessary to mention the folklore chronotope, to which Bakhtin singled out a whole chapter. Idyll can be divided into 2 parts:
- Family-idyllic chronotope. This is an idyll that is always tied to the natural region where the hero and his great-grandfathers grew up. Human life is always inextricably linked with nature. Another feature of such novels is the complete absence of household descriptions. Attention is paid exclusively to the romantic moments of life (new life, development, love, the search for meaning).
- Labor idyll. The work is praised for the benefit of society.
Most often, these two forms are found in the novel together. The heroes of idyllic novels cannot go beyond the framework of this world artificially created by the writer. The outside world is as if depreciating.
Chronotope functions
The most basic function of the chronotope is to organize the space in which the characters live, to make it understandable and interesting.
Space-time determines the unity of the whole narrative. Time may be described differently in one literary work, but the reader must be organically introduced into each dimension.
The chronotope expands the reader's understanding of the world. The description of the space therefore should not be narrow. If time and space are chosen conditionally, say, we are talking about the future, then you need to tell as much as possible about this new space.
Modern chronotope. Sample content
The heroes of today's literature live in other, modern chronotopes. These works are significantly different from the era of, say, Stendhal or Honore de Balzac. Since the chronotope largely determines the genre of the work, the new spatio-temporal framework also creates new genres, meanings and ideas. There are fantasy, post-apocalyptic, space adventures.
Now let us consider what defining characteristics of modern chronotopes are distinguished by literary scholars today.
- Abstractness and mythologization.
- Doubling.
- The use of symbolism.
- Of great importance are the memories of the characters.
- Emphasis is placed on the "leaking" time and the "squeezing" person space.
- The center of the narrative may be time itself.
Modern culture presents the writer with the opportunity to create individual fantastic chronotopes. In general, time itself today is much more abstract than 100 years ago. Now they allocate social time and subjective time, which are in no way connected with geographical. Therefore, in literature, time-space is often blurred, depending on the internal affects of the hero.
The structure of time and space
What are the details of a chronotope in a work of art? What does he look like? Time is formed by cyclic shifts of day and night, winter and summer, birth and death.
Space is built with the help of oppositions: north and south, or the heavenly world and the underworld, as the world is built in Dante’s “Divine Comedy”. Space is also characterized as open or closed, integral or discrete. Closed space is at home, galleries. Here you need a description of household items and the atmosphere in the building. Open is forests, mountains, and seas. For an open landscape, it is also desirable to give several characteristics.
Discrete space is used more in the late XX - early XXI century. This is a conditional, almost not specified space. For example, symbolist writers can take the image of a mirror for space. Simply put - the image prevails over reality, and in this abstract context the hero develops. For example, as in the works of Franz Kafka. The most abstract space is characteristic of romanticism and lyrics. In such a “blurred” space, the hero exists separately from everyday life. But a realistic work cannot be left without details of life.
Chronotope Interaction
The more times used, the more interesting, intricate the plot. Between themselves, the art worlds are in dialogue. There can be very many worlds within the framework of one work. Chronotopes can be included in each other, smoothly transition or contrast.
For example, David Mitchell’s book Cloud Atlas uses as many as 6 worlds with its own time and space.
Historical time moves from the 19th century into the immeasurably distant future. All 6 stories, 6 voluminous chronotopes have clear causal relationships, while all the stories are put together in one puzzle - they are united by one theme. However, all these interactions of temporary episodes remain as if behind the scenes, only in the context of the plot.
Chronotope Examples
Another striking example of combining several chronotopes into one plot is the integrity of 3 worlds in the classic novel Master and Margarita. The first time was the 30s in Moscow. The second chronotope is biblical times and the material world corresponding to the era; the third world in the work - the well-known ball at Woland.
The third world includes the abstract transformations of Berlioz’s apartment and Margarita’s adventures as a witch.
It is worth saying that in F. Dostoevsky’s novels, time always moves very quickly and this affects the heroes. But in the stories of A. Chekhov the opposite is true: time is almost absent, it freezes with space.
Output
So what do we know about a chronotope in a literary work? The meaning of the word is given by M. Bakhtin, he explains this concept as a single structure of chronos - time - and the space where the events of the novel take place. The chronotope is the basis of the novel, which completely defines the genre of the work and gives a tip to the writer on a possible plot. Time and space have their own function in the novel, their structure.
The forms of time and the chronotope analyzed by M. Bakhtin are basically not used anymore, as completely new ideas and genres are developing. Modern novels have completely new chronotopes that affect the character of the narrative and the behavior of the hero.