Talk:List of clichés found in literature

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This article was nominated for deletion on 14/5/2006. The result of the discussion was no consensus.

[edit] cliche of female humans falling for ordinary alien men

I´d like to add, that this cliche is pretty close to what is common in racist ideologies, where the male fears that women of "their" race would be interested in males of other races. I know it from the nazi-ideology, specifically hitlers book "mein kampf" where he voices this cliche of women, which need the care and protection against african males, who are more "masculine" then the arien males. Interestingly there are still topoi playing with this cliche not only in european media.

My question would be, should this be adressed in the paragraph? And if yes - could a native speaker of english form a sentence?

[edit] Problems with this article

• No sources or references for the non-science fiction section.
• Small amount of material listed, apparently randomly (e.g. the example from Turkish literature).
• Poor understanding of literary history, notably a failure to distinguish between clichés and "formulas". For example, "once upon a time" is an obligatory formula in the genre of fairy tales. Dismissing every "princess and dragon" tale as inherently clichéd is blatantly POV too
• Lack of context. Let's take one example: "the stereotypical pirate might have a pegleg, an eyepatch, a hook for a hand, and a parrot on his shoulder, and be searching for buried treasure using a map with an "X" marking the burial spot". It would not be correct to call Long John Silver in Stevenson's Treasure Island a cliché, even though he fits the above description. The original version is not a cliché. This distinction should be made clear.
• The science fiction section is probably superior, if not completely free from problems.
• This list is badly in need of a fix or, failing that, another deletion review.

--Folantin 12:31, 25 November 2006 (UTC)