WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF CONTEMPORARY SAGAS? - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The contemporary sagas are different groups of works that are all interlinked because revolve around the same theme. The term "saga" emerged in the Middle Ages, during the 12th and 14th centuries, with works based on Viking battles or voyages and stories about conflicts between families.

At present, the sagas are usually located more within the fictional genre, which means that although the works are characterized by their extensive narration, descriptive elements, dialogues or even monologues are also present.

Alnwick Castle, in Northumberland, an enclosure used to recreate the exterior of Hogwarts in Harry Potter. Source:, via Wikimedia Commons.

Among the most relevant contemporary sagas can be found works such as The Lord of the Rings, by Tolkien; Harry Potter, written by JK Rowling; The Chronicles of Narnia, by CS Lewis or The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, among others.

characteristics

Although the theme of contemporary sagas can be very varied, all of them have some characteristics that make them easily identifiable.

1. Argument

To begin with, the most notable characteristic of contemporary sagas is that they have a central argument that is enduring in time and that is present throughout all the works. This story revolves around some adventure or heroic act that must be done.

Although the plot continues throughout all the works, the conflict can evolve or change, as can the characters. That is, a conflict can be resolved, but a new one will always appear.

2. Composition

In addition, contemporary sagas cover different genres: from fantasy, as is the case of The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter; the intrigue, as happens in The Cemetery of the Dead Books, or the dystopias, as in The Hunger Games or in Divergent.

Dystopias refer to communities or places that do not exist in reality and that are not desired. In the case of the fantasy genre, this occurs when there is a presence of supernatural elements or unexpected events.

On the other hand, in works based on the genre of intrigue there are clues to what happens throughout the development of the story, but not everything is understood and the reader or viewer knows the same as the character of the work.

Usually the narrator is omniscient. Third-person narrators of this type are usually knowledgeable about the entire story and control all the details.

3. Extension

Contemporary sagas do not have a specific length or number of works, but rather each saga is made up of a different number of works. They usually have three or more volumes and are grouped into trilogies, pentalogies, or septalogies.

The Lord of the Rings has three books, and Harry Potter has seven works, as in the case of The Chronicles of Narnia, which also has seven novels.

Normally from a story others emerge, which refer to previous works or give rise to the birth of new narratives. The Hobbit was the play that preceded The Lord of the Rings and had Bilbo Baggins as the protagonist.

After Harry Potter, for example, its author JK Rowling, created six other secondary works or books. Fantastic Animals and Where to Find Them was one of those stories that refers to a book used by Hogwarts students. Currently this story has already been made into a movie and it was announced that it will be a pentalogy.

4. Values

In contemporary sagas, there are characters who are against certain situations and who have the goal of preventing evil from taking over their world. This means that the works that make up contemporary sagas are full of narratives that make some reference to principles about good or evil.

In the case of Harry Potter, for example, education has a strong traditional load, respect for the other; and if the established rules are broken it is almost always from an ethical motivation.

Mythological elements are also often very present in contemporary sagas. In addition, these revolve around stories or actions that invite us to accept differences, to create links or to be inclusive.

5. Order

The events that are told throughout the sagas usually have a chronological order; that is to say, things are happening in an order or in a successive way and the actions are narrated as if they were happening in real time.

Prose is used as a language method. Which means that there is no set measure or rhythm in the set of words that are used, something that usually happens with verses. This allows them to be easy to read stories, as they do not have major ornaments in their stories.

6. Characters and universe

Although the characters vary, as some disappear from the story, the protagonists are unalterable. What is also usually kept unchanged over time is the universe in which everything happens.

As there is a large presence of fantasy, there is often a mixture of humans and fantasy beings and the interaction between the two is normal. The protagonist is usually human, with whom it is possible to achieve a relationship of empathy with him. It is characterized by having a heroic role and being surrounded by more characters that will help it fulfill its mission.

It is very normal that the protagonists of stories in contemporary sagas are teenagers. In Harry Potter the main character started the story at the age of 11, and Katniss Everdeen, in The Hunger Games, was between 16 and 17 years old; while Beatrice “Tris” Prior, in Divergent, was 16 years old.

The characters usually do not know what they are facing or the world they are going to be part of. Frodo Baggins, in The Lord of the Rings, did not know of the danger he was in with having the One Ring. The same goes for Harry Potter, who knew nothing about the wizarding world.

7. Places

The world in which the narratives of contemporary sagas take place is unreal, full of fantasy, although the description of the places makes us believe that they may be real. They seem recognizable or similar to the real world and even close.

References

1. Agostinho, D. (2019). Saga - Genus Literário. Recovered from: infoescola.com
2. Khapaeva, D. (2017). The celebration of death in contemporary culture. Michigan: University of Michigan Press.
3. Pálsson, H. (2019). Saga. Recovered from britannica.com
4. Sullivan, D., & Greenberg, J. (2016). Death in classic and contemporary film. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
5. Turner, R. (1996). Ken Follett: A Critical Companion (Critical companions to popular contemporary writers, 1082-4979). Greenwood Publishing Group.