Counterpoint

Counterpoint is a compositional device borrowed by literature from music, consisting in the simultaneous unfolding of several independent plot lines, themes, voices, or narrative planes which, joining and interacting, create a complex, polyphonic artistic unity. In music counterpoint means the art of combining independent melodies; in literature, the parallel conduct of several lines that set off, complement, or contradict one another, generating additional meanings from their juxtaposition. Contrapuntal composition marks the polyphonic novel, in which different consciousnesses and voices sound as equals (the theory of the polyphonic novel was developed by Mikhail Bakhtin). In Ukrainian literature a multi-layered, contrapuntal structure distinguishes epic novels with parallel plot lines, as well as modern prose that juxtaposes different temporal and narrative planes. Counterpoint enriches composition, giving a work semantic depth, multidimensionality, and inner tension through the interaction of independent artistic lines.