Motif (narrative)

In narrative, a motif  (pronunciation)  is any recurring element that has symbolic significance in a story. Through its repetition, a motif can help produce other narrative (or literary) aspects such as theme or mood.

A narrative motif can be created through the use of imagery, structural components, language, and other narrative elements. The flute in Arthur Miller's play Death of a Salesman is a recurrent sound motif that conveys rural and idyllic notions. Another example from modern American literature is the green light found in the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Narratives may include multiple motifs of varying types. In Shakespeare's play Macbeth, he uses a variety of narrative elements to create many different motifs. Imagistic references to blood and water are continually repeated. The phrase "fair is foul, and foul is fair" is echoed at many points in the play, a combination that mixes the concepts of good and evil. The play also features the central motif of the washing of hands, one that combines both verbal images and the movement of the actors.

Motif

Motif may refer to:

Creative work

Biochemistry

Other uses

Motif Window Manager

In computing, the Motif Window Manager (MWM) is an X window manager based on the Motif toolkit.

Overview

Mwm is a lightweight, window manager having robust compliance and configuration of the features it has. Mwm first appeared on in the early-1980s, along with the Motif toolkit. Mwm supports: Common User Interface (i.e., Alt-Tab is switch windows, a standard), some International support, Common Desktop Environment, X Resource Database (/home/app-defaults/ and runtime), X Session Manager protocol (save yourself), X Edited Resource Protocol (edit widget data), desktop icons, optional use of images to decorate, and had supported Virtual desktop (removed since 2.1) but now supports non-virtual desktop panning. Mwm is a window manager, not a full desktop environment, so it only manages windows; it is expected that configuration, programs, sound, are provided by other programs. A plain text file is parsed to customize menus, user input mappings, management features, and user made functions of the same.

Motif (chess composition)

In chess composition, a motif is basic element of a move in the consideration why the piece moves and how it supports the fulfillment of a stipulation. Any move may and often does contain multiple motifs. Some composition schools put specific emphasis on motivation in chess problems, especially strategical school and Slovak school.

A composition where a maximum number of a certain motif occurrences is shown is called a task, even if the term task is more general.

Classification of motifs

Motifs may be classified according to various viewpoints. In the usual twomovers they might be: