Trope or Cliche
January 5, 2011
I don’t know how to put the little accent mark over the “e” in my title, but I promise I would if I knew how….
Some questions I’ve been pondering:
What’s the difference between a trope and a cliché?
Are tropes good, bad, indifferent?
What is a good use of tropes?
And when people say “so-and-so brought a fresh voice to an established trope” or something to that effect, what to they mean by “fresh voice?”
I have thoughts and opinions of my own (shocking, I know), but I want to hear your thoughts before I blog about what’s in my head. Share your ideas on this post and maybe I’ll quote you… 
And if you want to waste some time today (or ever), go here. But I’m warning you–once you’re there, it’s hard to come back.
Back to editing Ravenmarked now…
2 Comments
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The main difference between a trope and a cliche, as I understand it is, that a trope is a figure, symbol/ metaphor that is embedded in literature on an historical and universal level – archetypes that have been established and used since the beginning of story telling – often established from earliest religious texts. (For example the swan cycle / ressurection cycle etc – each of these having a collection of universally recognised archtyepal characters ie/ The sun prince – (Osiris, Jesus, King Arthur, Aslan, Luke Sywalker)/ Disobedient child (Eve, Prometheus, Red Riding Hood etc). Tropes have a mythological connection.
Whereas a cliche is a well recognised concept, character, scenario or well worn phrase or image that is of more recent invention ie the last 400 years. A brilliant writer has created it and then others have either used it or closely emulated it.
What is interesting about tropes it that they seem to occur and be understood on a global level whereas cliche is quite specific to certain cultures / locations and epochs.
In a nutshell Tropes = ideas that are 1000′s of years old linked to religious scriptures & Cliche = The last 400/500 years old linked to literary heritage.
Thanks for the thoughtful response, Katie! I was going to start writing something about those today, but I got distracted by a rant I needed to get off my chest… I will probably start a series on tropes and such next week. I appreciate your comments!