The term Menippeah has been adopted as the name of a literary genre or theory, based on the principles of philosophical aesthetics, semiotics and narratology

Narratology

Narratology denotes both the theory and the study of narrative and narrative structure and the ways that these affect our perception. While in principle the word may refer to any systematic study of narrative, in practice its usage is rather more restricted. It is an anglicisation of French...

, developed by Alfred Barkov. What follows is a description of Barkov's theory.

Menippeah is different from the three known classes of fiction: the epics

Epic poetry

An epic is a lengthy narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation. Oral poetry may qualify as an epic, and Albert Lord and Milman Parry have argued that classical epics were fundamentally an oral poetic form...

, the lyrics

Lyric poetry

Lyric poetry is a genre of poetry that expresses personal and emotional feelings. In the ancient world, lyric poems were those which were sung to the lyre. Lyric poems do not have to rhyme, and today do not need to be set to music or a beat...

, and the drama

Drama

Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...

. It employs a specific way of narrating widely used even in everyday communication (when irony

Irony

Irony is a rhetorical device, literary technique, or situation in which there is a sharp incongruity or discordance that goes beyond the simple and evident intention of words or actions...

 is intended.) http://barkov.kiev.ua/index.html

The characteristics of a Menippeah

• Hidden (biased) narrator.
• Multiple plot contradictions.
• Inconsistency in the style.

There are three different plots within a Menippeah:

• The plot of the narrated false story erroneously taken for the ultimate content.
• The true story, which is to be reconstructed employing the contradictions and seemingly insignificant facts.
• The main plot depicting the Narrator as the main character.

The object of a menippeah is satire

Satire

Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...

, with the hidden narrator as the object of the satire. By comparing the three plots of a menippeah we, indirectly, discover the true character of the narrator.

Examples

• Modern
  • Hamlet
    Hamlet
    The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
    
    : The real narrator is Horatio; he narrates a story that shows him as a friend to all the main characters, who are dead and can't contradict him. His story also hides his guilt in the death of Ophelia.
  • Eugene Onegin
    Eugene Onegin
    Eugene Onegin is a novel in verse written by Alexander Pushkin.It is a classic of Russian literature, and its eponymous protagonist has served as the model for a number of Russian literary heroes . It was published in serial form between 1825 and 1832...
    
    : The real narrator is Onegin himself; he changes the story to hide his guilt.
• Ancient satire.
  • Mispogonhttp://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/julian-mispogon.html (Beard-Hater), by Julian the Apostate
    Julian the Apostate
    Julian "the Apostate" , commonly known as Julian, or also Julian the Philosopher, was Roman Emperor from 361 to 363 and a noted philosopher and Greek writer....
    
    .
  • Saturae Menippeae, by Varro
    Marcus Terentius Varro
    Marcus Terentius Varro was an ancient Roman scholar and writer. He is sometimes called Varro Reatinus to distinguish him from his younger contemporary Varro Atacinus.-Biography:...
    
    

External links

• Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita: A Literary Mystification by Alfred Barkov.
• Hamlet: A Tragedy of Errors or the Tragical Fate of William Shakespeare?, English summary of the book by Alfred Barkov.