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• A/ Definition
• B/ Functions
• C/ Method
• D/ Conditions for description
• E/ Spatial form of a text or book
adapted from
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com
A/ Definition (1):
dictionary definition
• Setting : Pronunciation /sɛtɪŋ/ noun
• (1) the place or type of surroundings where something is positioned or where an event takes place:a romantic house in a wonderful setting beside the River Wye.
• (2) the place and time at which a play, novel, or film is represented as happening:short stories with a contemporary setting.
• (3) the scenery and stage furniture used in a play or film.
A/ Definition (2):
simplified literary definition
• Setting = place and space where the story
is set
• Textual construct
• « Passive » setting (« backdrop ») VS
« active » setting
B/ Functions (1)
• Referential function = giving the illusion of reality (► direct telling)
• Dawn Arkin « What Should Your Story’s Setting Be? », Ezine, 2011
« Your setting […] should help transport the reader into the fictional world of your story and keep him there until the final page is turned, and beyond. »
B/ Functions (2)
• Verisimilitude = mimetic purpose (imitating the « real » world with the use of spatial markers: geographical/topographical references, spatial prepositions, place names)
• BUT a setting can be entirely fictional (ex: science fiction, Wessex of Thomas Hardy, etc).
B/ Functions (3)
• Symbolic function (► indirect showing):
– Creation, building up of the context and
atmosphere
– Didactic purpose (when the setting conveys a
message)
• Analogical function:
– When a parallel is established between the
setting and a character.
C/ Method
• Appellation =naming/toponymy and
onomastics
• Expansion = components, qualities,
properties
• Visual elements = maps, drawings, etc.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Edgar Allan Poe « The Oval
Portrait » (1840)
• Referential function
(not foregrounded)
• Creation of a gothic
atmosphere
• Symbolic dimension
• Analogical function
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Charles Dickens, Bleak House
(1853)
• Referential function
• Creation of
atmosphere through
symbolic funtion.
Source:
http://www.magnetmagazine.com
N. Flynn, Another Bullshit Night in
Suck City: A Memoir (2004)
• Referential function
• Partly analogical
function
Source:
http://www.womanaroundtown.co
m
P. Eakins, « The Change », in The
Hungry Girls and Other Stories, (1999)
• Creation of an
atmosphere through
appellation
Source: http://mdah.state.ms.us
E.Welty, « Death of a Traveling
Salesman » (1941)
• Part of the plot
• Analogical function
• Symbolic value