A Guide to the Study of Literary Themes

FAIN: FT-14103-78

Theodore Ziolkowski
Princeton University (Princeton, NJ 08540-5228)

To complete a book that will serve as a practical guide to the study of literary themes and motifs. "Thematology" or "thematics" are technical names for that aspect of literary scholarship that concerns itself with the subject matter of literature: notably its traditional stories (e.g. the story of Faust or Odysseus), its motifs (e.g., the resurrection), and its symbols (e.g., the "scarlet letter"). Thematic study provides a useful approach to literary history because it enables one to group works that share a specific trait.