Kishotenketsu
- Used in classical Chinese, Korean and Japanese narratives
- An example of a story structure without conflict
Four parts
- Ki: Introduction
- Sho: Development
- Ten: Complication
- Ketsu: Reconcillation
First act introduces the setting and characters. Second act further develops the characters. Third act introduces some complication. Fourth act reconciles the state of things to the world given the complication.
The complication can be something that characters struggle against. But it need not be.
An example:
Ki: The daughters of Itoya in Osaka; Shou: The eldest daughter is sixteen and the younger one is fourteen; Ten: In Japan, warriors have killed their enemies with bows and arrows; Ketsu: However, the daughters of Itoya kill with their eyes.
We see this pattern in horror, even in western horror:
- Driver picks up a hitchiker
- The two bond over the ride
- Upon arrival the hitchiker disappears
- The driver discovers the hitchiker has been dead for years.
In classical western story structure the conflict and goals of the protagonist drive the plot. In a three act structure, this conclict occurs by the end of the first act. It is this conflict that engages the reader. Derrida even projects this into the metaphysical realm and argues that reality itself is a narrative text that follows this structure.
In kishotenketsu, it is causality that propels the plot. The protagonist themselves reflect [[Buddhism]] goalessness. It is the antognist, if there is one, who is goal orientated The protagonist in kishotenketsu reacts to the events that occur either through causilaity or the motivations of the antagonist.
This also extends into essay. There are four Japanese essay strucures:
- Return to baseline, invokes an idea, offer several examples of that idea but doesn't work to defend the opinion
- Tempura, inductive reasoning, thesis occurs in the last paragraph but built to that thesis is indirect
- Jo-Ha-kyuu, start/break/rapid, like a shonen anime; operates more like a western essay
- Kishotenketsu, introduces an idea, explores that idea, introduces a new idea, then draws a conclusion from the contrast of those two ideas in the final part
External References
- Odlund, Nils. Kishotenketsu for Beginners -- An Introduction to Four Act Story Structure. Mythic Scribes. Retrieved 2022-03-25.
- The Significance of Plot without Conflict. Still Eating Oranges. Retrieved 2022-03-26.
- Francisco, Aya. The Skeletal Structure of Japanese Horror Fiction. Tofugu. Retrieved 2022-03-26.
- Francisco, Aya. The Mindset of Japanese Arguments. Tofugu. Retrieved 2022-03-26.
Linked References
- literature
- snow-crash
- Thinking about [[kishotenketsu]]. Snow Crash is a western novel. But it is interesting that Hiro and Y.T. are both very disaffeted protagonists. The conflict that the snow crash maguffin introduces is pretty much ignored for a long time (shou). Hiro explores it, but prioritizes putting on a concert. Y.T. gets involved through an external antagonist (Uncle Enzo).