See sequence of events.

Abstract basic pattern according to which the plot is typically structured in a group of texts, primarily in a specific literary genre, either the plot as a whole (i.e. in relation to a text as a whole) or at least larger parts of the plot of a text (see C. Zgoll 2019, 149-152).

Example:

According to Aristotle, the genre pattern of a tragedy essentially consists of three steps, leading from a complication to a turning point and finally to a resolution.

Hyleme analysis is the method of reconstructing a narrative sequence (= narrower definition of hyleme analysis) or a sequence of events in general (= broader definition of hyleme analysis)

in its natural chronological order, based on the reconstruction of the minimal state- or action-bearing units, the hylemes.

Hyleme determinations are more detailed specifications of a hyleme predicate or of hyleme elements (hyleme), e.g. through local, temporal or other specifications, through epithets, through the attribution of abilities or characteristics, etc. (expressed linguistically, for example, through appositives, adjectives, adverbs, prepositional phrases, morphological cases, etc.).

Example (determinations printed in italics):

Zeus, king of the gods, kills king Erechtheus in Athens in the evening with a thunderbolt.

Hyleme elements are figures, objects, locations, natural phenomena, etc. associated with the hyleme predicate in a (logical) subject or object function.

Example (hyleme elements printed in italics):

Zeus kills Erechtheus.

Abstract hyleme with several possible levels of varying degrees of abstraction and indeterminacy. The creation of hyleme patterns forms the basis for a meaningful and differentiated comparative approach. It is crucial to consider several possibilities for further degrees of abstraction and indeterminacy. Only the selection of an appropriate mixture of determination- and concretion-related differences and indeterminacy- or abstraction-related similarities between the hyleme patterns being compared will lead to fruitful comparisons.

Example: From the concrete and determined hylem

‘The mighty Zeus slays the proud Erechtheus with a bright flash of lightning.’

the hyleme pattern can be derived, for example

‘Supreme god slays king with a flash of lightning.’

Further abstracted and freed from determinations:

‘Supreme god kills king.’

‘God kills man.’

‘Deity kills human.’

‘Protagonist A acts negatively towards protagonist B.’

Representation or designation of an action, process, state or property by means of a (logical) predicate as the core component of a hyleme.

Example (hyleme predicate printed in italics):

Zeus kills Erechtheus.

Sequence of several (at least two) hylemes.

Example:

Erechtheus kills Eumolpos (hyleme 1). Zeus then strikes Erechtheus dead with a thunderbolt (hyleme 2).

Durative-constant hylemes refer to something that lasts longer, that was already valid before a narrative variant (or a sequence of events) began, remains valid within the variant, and continues to be valid afterwards.

Example:

Uranos is a sky god.

Durative-initial hylemes refer to something that lasts longer, that is already valid before the beginning and at the beginning of a narrative variant (or a sequence of events), but loses its validity in the course of the events.

Example for a durative-initial hyleme in a narrative variant, where Zeus is childless at the beginning, but becames the father of Athena by the end:

Zeus is childless.

Durative-resultative hylemes refer to something that lasts for a longer period of time, which was not valid before the beginning of the narrative variant or a sequence of events and only becomes valid in the course of the events, with validity extending beyond the end.

Example for a durative-resultative hyleme in a narrative variant, where Zeus is childless at the beginning, but becames the father of Athena by the end:

Athena is the daughter of Zeus.

A minimal state- or action-bearing unit of a narrative variant or of an event in general; it is logically and linguistically standardized and can be reconstructed from a manifestation in a specific medium or a specific wording in a particular language, but is not exclusive to any one such manifestation. The terms “hyleme” and “hylistics” are derived from the Ancient Greek word hӯlē (ὕλη), which means „timber, material, fabric“, so “hyleme” is a minimal ‘building block’ of a narrative sequence or of a sequence of events. The term “hýleme” (stress on the first syllable) is analogous to terms such as “morpheme” or “phoneme”, which similarily refer to minimal units which differentiate the meaning in language or sounds.

The basic structure of a hyleme is as follows:

logical subject (+ determinations, if applicable)

+ logical predicate (+ determinations, if applicable)

+ (if present) logical object (+ determinations, if applicable)

Example (without determinations):

Zeus kills Erechtheus.

Juxtaposition (or parallel presentation) of selected narrative variants in their natural chronological order, similar to a musical score, helpful for a more detailed comparison (see e.g. C. Zgoll 2021, 51).

Discipline concerned with the reconstruction, differentiation and interpretation of narrative sequences, their study and comparison, and with the analysis and interpretation of sequences of events in general. The name “hylistics” is derived from the Ancient Greek word hӯlē (ὕλη), see under hyleme.

Abstract hyper-hyleme with several possible levels of varying degrees of abstraction and indeterminacy.

Example:

NN founds a city.

For further possible gradations, see the example under hyleme pattern.

Hyleme, which serves to represent a longer hyleme sequence or an entire narrative (or sequence of events) by summarising this sequence or narrative (1) in the manner of a headline or (2) by evoking it through its conciseness or specific details.

Example for (1):

Cadmus founds Thebes.

Example for (2):

Europa is sitting on a bull. (evoking the entire mythical narrative Zeus abducts Europa)

An omnipresent and therefore fundamental phenomenon of mutually influencing and interpenetrating narratives and the accompanying interference of ideas behind these narratives. This reflects mere contacts, but in narrative material relevant to the interpretation and coping with human existence (e.g. myths), it often also reflects conflicts or combative disputes between narratives and the interpretative concepts and claims to interpretative power behind these narratives.

Intertextuality (text-text references) and interpictoriality (image-image references) are media-specific forms of interhylistic interferences; they do not refer to the interference of narrative material, but to references between individual media concretions. Interhylistic interferences are present wherever content-related interference between narrative material can be observed; intertextuality or interpictoriality are present when, in addition to content-related references, formal references between individual media concretions can also be established (e.g. between two concrete texts or two concrete images).

Example of interhylity:

Interference between the narrative material of the sacrifice of Erechtheus’ daughter and the narrative material of the sacrifice of Iphigenia by her father Agamemnon (see C. Zgoll 2019, 289-292).

See interhylistic interferences.

See interhylistic interferences.

Presentation of a narrative variant using a specific medium (image, text, film, dance, ritual action, linguistic/oral expressions in any language, etc.).

Example:

The narrative variant of Apollo’s futile love for Daphne in the media concretisation of a section of text in Latin in Ovid’s Metamorphoses (Ov. met. 1,452-567).

The term “medium/ media” or “medial” is used in a broad sense, i.e. not only in reference to a primarily ‘technically and materially defined channel for the transmission of information’ (a single medium such as a physical book or a specific film adaptation, etc., see Wolf 2002, 39, note 38), but according to Wolf’s definition (ibid.), medium is also understood as ‘a communication device conventionally regarded as distinct’ (a ‘type of media’ such as ‘film’ or ‘literature’), so that the term can be applied both to individual media and to media-specific genres and subgenres (or ‘types of media’).

A myth can be understood as a narrative material which is polymorphic through its variants and – depending on the variant – polystratic; a narrative material in which transcending interpretations of what can be experienced form a hyleme sequence with an implicit claim to relevance for the interpretation and mastering of the human condition (C. Zgoll 2020, 75 f).

Example:

The myth Apollo loves Daphne in all its existing and possible variants.

Term for a specific world view and corresponding narrative material or characters.

Example:

Heracles is a figure from Greek mythology, but not a mythological figure, rather a mythical one.

Term for a primarily scientific study of or discourse on myths or mythical figures.

Example:

A mythological study of Heracles may be conducted, but not a mythical one.

Both a term for the totality of mythical narratives of a particular culture and for the scientific study of myths.

A non-finite quantity of variants of a polymorphic hyleme sequence, which can be circumscribed only approximately with regard to specific protagonists, places, objects, and events.

Example of a (mythical) narrative:

Apollo loves Daphne (as the sum of all existing and possible variants of this narrative, summarised under this heading = hyper-hyleme).

Combination of different narratives into a large narrative structure.

Examples:

The linking of several narratives about Gilgamesh in the Akkadian Gilgamesh Epic or the linking of several narratives about Odysseus in Homer’s Odyssey.

Abstract narrative material with several possible levels of varying degrees of abstraction and indeterminacy. For meaningful comparisons of narrative patterns, it is crucial to consider several possibilities for further degrees of abstraction and indeterminacy, as well as to choose an appropriate mix of differences based on determination and concretion and similarities based on indeterminacy and abstraction between the narrative patterns being compared (see under hyleme pattern with examples), as well as a) the number and b) the arrangement of the individual hyleme patterns within the narrative patterns being compared (see C. Zgoll 2020, 46-52).

Example of a narrative pattern (reduced to only two hyleme patterns; for further possible gradations, see the example under hyleme pattern):

A king pierces an enemy commander with a lance (hyleme pattern 1).

A god then strikes down the king with a bolt of lightning (hyleme pattern 2).

Group of narrative material that exhibits certain ‘family resemblances’ (Wittgenstein) due to specific characteristics, such as the group of mythical narratives or the group of fairy tales (see C. Zgoll 2019, 205-231).

A particular variant, with specific details, of a self-contained sequence of multiple interdependent hylemes of a narrative.

Example:

The specific variant of the narrative Apollo loves Daphne, which has been preserved in the form of a passage of text in Latin in Ovid’s Metamorphoses (Ov. met. 1,452-567), but which could also be presented in other forms (e.g. images, films etc.).

A characteristic of narrative material (especially mythical narrative material) which consists in the fact that it exists in the form of many different media-specific and potential variants which, taken together, do not define this narrative material but describe it approximately as an open field of possibilities.

Example:

The myth APOLLO LOVES DAPHNE in all its existing and possible variants.

A characteristic of a (especially mythical) narrative variant, which consists in the fact that, due to the phenomenon of interhylistic interferences, it is usually interspersed with individual or multiple hylemes (or hyleme elements, hyleme predicates or their determinations) from other variants of the same narrative material or from variants of other narrative materials.

Example:

From the sentence ‘Apollo, the Python slayer, loves the nymph Daphne,’ the hylemes ‘Apollo loves the nymph Daphne’ (hyleme 1) and ‘Apollo slays Python’ (hyleme 2) can be derived. This second hyleme belongs to a different mythical narrative and thus to a different layer than hyleme 1.

Sequence analysis is the method to disentangle different narrative materials in a given source as distinct hyleme sequences. The first step is to analyse the boundaries of one (variant of a) narrative material (or a sequence of events) by determining the beginnings and ends using the TTEPP criteria. The second step is to analyse the completeness of one (variant of a) narrative material (or a sequence of events) by defining durative-initial and durative-resultative hylemes.

‘Compilation/ composition of events/ happenings’ (see Aristotle poet. 6,1450a5 and 6,1450a15: σύνθεσις/ σύστασις τῶν πραγμάτων), i.e. of events, deeds, processes, etc. and the states or situations, etc. in between, as the most important constituent of narrative material, with at least one representation of a change of state (cf. Schmid, 2007, 98); see also under hyleme sequence.

Method of identifying and reconstructing different layers in a (mythical) narrative variant. It is based on the analysis of interhylistic interferences (see C. Zgoll 2019, 270-299), formal and logical inconsistencies (see C. Zgoll 2019, 316-369), and various evaluation and hierarchisation strategies that indicate conflicts over interpretative power (see C. Zgoll 2019, 440-500). Stratification analysis is an essential prerequisite for identifying layers of differentiated horizons of meaning in variants of (mythical) narratives.

The following TTEPP criteria can be used to analyse and distinguish between variants of narrative materials:

• Themes:              What is it about?
• Time:                    When?
• Events:                 What happens?
• Protagonists:      Who?
• Places:                  Where?