Английская Википедия:Historical present
Шаблон:Short description Шаблон:EngvarB Шаблон:More citations needed Шаблон:Linguistics In linguistics and rhetoric, the historical present or historic present, also called dramatic present or narrative present, is the employment of the present tense when narrating past events. It is widely used in writing about history in Latin (where it is sometimes referred to by its Latin name, praesens historicum) and some modern European languages. In English, it is used above all in historical chronicles (listing a series of events). It is also used in fiction, for "hot news" (as in headlines), and in everyday conversation.Шаблон:Sfn In conversation, it is particularly common with quotative verbs such as say and go,Шаблон:Sfn and especially the newer quotative like.[1][2] It is typically thought to heighten the dramatic force of the narrative by describing events as if they were still unfolding, and/or by foregrounding some events relative to others.Шаблон:Sfn[3]
Examples
In an excerpt from Charles Dickens's David Copperfield, the shift from the past tense to the historical present gives a sense of immediacy, as of a recurring vision: Шаблон:Quote
Novels that are written entirely in the historical present include notably John Updike's Rabbit, Run, Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall and Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale.
In describing fiction
Summaries of the narratives (plots) of works of fiction are conventionally presented using the present tense, rather than the past tense. At any particular point of the story, as it unfolds, there is a now and so a past and a future, so whether some event mentioned in the story is past, present, or future, changes as the story progresses. The entire plot description is presented as if the story's now were a continuous present. Thus, in summarizing the plot of A Tale of Two Cities, one may write: Шаблон:Quote
In other languages
In French, the historical present is often used in journalism and in historical texts to report events in the past.[4]
The extinct language Shasta appeared to allow the historical present in narratives.[5][6]
The New Testament, written in Koine Greek in the 1st century AD, is notable for use of the historical present, particularly in the Gospel of Mark.[7][8][9]
See also
- Future tense
- Grammatical tense
- Past tense
- Passé simple – the historical past in French
- Preterite
- Uses of English verb forms
Sources
References
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite journal
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite journal
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite journal
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- ↑ Шаблон:Cite thesis
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite book
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite web
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite journal
- ↑ For a list of all occurrences of the historical present in the Synoptic Gospels and Acts, see the LOY Excursus: Mark's Editorial Style, under the subheading "Mark's Freedom and Creativity" at JerusalemPerspective.com.
