Vignettes
A vignette is a brief literary device that captures a specific moment, character, or scene without the structure of a full narrative. Unlike short stories, vignettes do not necessitate a clear plot with a beginning, middle, and end. Instead, they serve to enrich a larger work by providing descriptive insights that enhance the reader's understanding of the context or characters. The term "vignette," derived from the French word for "little vine," has historical roots in early illuminated manuscripts, eventually evolving to describe various artistic and narrative forms.
Vignettes are typically succinct, often around a hundred words, focusing on sensory details rather than plot development. They can be found in diverse mediums, including literature, photography, film, and even psychology and medical training, where they illustrate scenarios or concepts. While vignettes can provide a glimpse into the past, they can also represent any time frame, distinguishing them from flashbacks, which are specifically set in the past and central to the narrative. Overall, vignettes play a crucial role in storytelling by allowing writers to paint vivid pictures that deepen the reader's connection to characters and settings.
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Vignettes
A vignette in literature is a short passage or scene that captures a moment in time. It may focus on a character, scene, concept, or some other aspect of a story. While a vignette is similar to a short story, it does not have to include all the elements of a short story, such as a plot with a beginning, a middle, and an ending. Vignettes are generally short and descriptive and used to enhance a longer work. A vignette may inform the reader or add insight, interest, depth, and completeness to the larger work.
Background
The vignette (vin-YET) takes its name from the French word vigne, which means “little vine.” The name is a reference to the elaborate illustrations that appeared in the margins of the first pages of chapters in many early handwritten books. These began as vines and, in some cases, became illustrations that depicted something related to what was on the page.
The earliest use of the word in this sense occurred in the mid-1700s. About a century later, the word was applied to a photography style that blurred the edges of the photo. Within a few decades, in and around the 1880s, the word vignette began to be applied to written sketches of a character, a scene, or other aspect of a story.
In addition to its literary use, the term “vignette” is used in other ways. It continues to be used in photography, where it refers to a distinctive border added to photos to attract attention. The term is also applied to dioramas and museum displays that depict a moment in time in visual form and short scenes in movies that help set the stage by giving the audience a glimpse into a setting or character. In psychology, the term applies to presenting people with hypothetical situations and asking them questions about them to get a better understanding of their perceptions and values. The term vignette is also used in medical training to describe simulations of situations used to help prepare and assess trainees. In the stock market, a vignette refers to a detailed symbol on a stock certificate that represents the company and makes counterfeiting difficult. In some countries, a vignette is a sticker on a car used to indicate that mandatory road taxes have been paid or on a passport to indicate permission to enter a country.
Overview
A vignette is a literary device used to provide the reader with an informative glimpse into a character, setting, situation, or concept. A vignette is short, generally only a hundred or so words. Its primary purpose is to be descriptive, so it has little or no plot. A vignette serves primarily to advance the narrative in the larger work in which it appears by providing insight, additional information, background, or other details that enrich and enhance the story.
For example, the Irish writer James Joyce used this vignette and others to describe people in London in his famous 1920 novel Ulysses:
Mr Denis J Maginni, professor of dancing, &c., in silk hat, slate frockcoat with silk facings, white kerchief tie, tight lavender trousers, canary gloves and pointed patent boots, walking with grave deportment most respectfully took the curbstone as he passed lady Maxwell at the corner of Dignam’s court.
A vignette focuses mainly on description. This makes it different from a short story, flash fiction, or an anecdote because they all have a plot with a beginning, a middle, and an end.
Vignettes are not the same as flashbacks. Although flashbacks are also often short passages that focus on a moment in time, they are set only in the past. Vignettes can be flashbacks but may be set in any time period. Additionally, flashbacks are vital to the plot, and the story would be unclear without them, while vignettes are enhancements but not usually essential.
Writers often use vignettes to help readers understand their characters, settings, or situations more clearly. For example, in a story centered around a family, the author might include a vignette describing the house where many members of the family once lived. Knowing the location of the house and details such as whether it is large or small, grand or simple, well-kept or rundown, will help readers understand more about the family members and their actions.
A vignette can appear anywhere in a story where the author would like to set the mood, deepen the reader’s understanding of a character, setting, or concept, or create a visual picture. It does not tell a complete story. For example, the vignette describing the house would not necessarily include details about when and how the house was built or purchased. It would instead focus on what the house looks, smells, and feels like, in general or through the eyes of one of the characters.
Writers who want to include vignettes to enrich their stories should focus on descriptive details. Using the senses to help the reader understand how something looks, sounds, or smells helps a reader enter into a story more intensely because they get a strong feeling for the story’s atmosphere. While a vignette conveys non-essential information—the story could still be understood if it was left out—it should leave the reader with a clear impression and understanding of whatever person, place, or object is featured in the vignette. Using symbols in vignettes is also helpful in conveying a great deal of information with a few words. For example, the house in the vignette might have a national flag flying outside or a religious book displayed prominently on a desk or table. Vignettes with this type of information help readers see the characters or setting in the same way as the author.
Bibliography
“Defining the Vignette.” University of Minnesota, manifold.umn.edu/read/untitled-bd3eb0af-fdad-4dd6-9c94-3fd15d522ab6/section/759a4190-fdae-45c1-8960-29c8f4c19864. Accessed 15 Nov. 2023.
“Vignette.” Literary Terms, literaryterms.net/vignette/. Accessed 15 Nov. 2023.
“Vignette.” Online Etymological Dictionary, www.etymonline.com/word/vignette. Accessed 15 Nov. 2023.
“What Is a Vignette?” Oregon State Guide to Literary Terms,liberalarts.oregonstate.edu/wlf/what-vignette-oregon-state-guide-literary-terms. Accessed 15 Nov. 2023.
“What Is a Vignette & How Do I Write One?” Writers Write,www.writerswrite.co.za/how-to-write-a-vignette/. Accessed 15 Nov. 2023.
“What Is a Vignette in Literature? Defining the Literary Device, Plus 5 Tips On Writing Vignettes.” MasterClass,25 Aug. 2021, www.masterclass.com/articles/what-is-a-vignette-in-literature-defining-the-literary-device-plus-5-tips-on-writing-vignettes. Accessed 15 Nov. 2023.
“What Is the Difference Between a Short Story and a Vignette?” Gotham Writers,www.writingclasses.com/toolbox/ask-writer/what-is-the-difference-between-a-short-story-and-a-vignette. Accessed 15 Nov. 2023.