There was a writing term posted in a class I had taken 10 years ago, and it essentially meant prequel or “the story before” and for the life of me I cannot remember it nor find any sort of phrase that means the same thing. In Medias res has been suggested numerous times, but that essentially means “in the middle of things” and I’m looking for the term that refers to what happens before. The best way I can describe it is a prequel—the story before the story you know. I’d be incredibly grateful for any help that anyone can provide.
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1Prologue? πρόλογος is certainly interpretable as before-story.– CairnarvonCommented Dec 12, 2023 at 18:19
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2@Cairnarvon And it's found in Latin with prologus.– cmw ♦Commented Dec 12, 2023 at 18:42
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1@Cairnarvon & cmw: That word would make a fine answer, even if it's not a perfect fit. Someone else looking for something similar and stumbling upon this question can well have use for that.– Joonas Ilmavirta ♦Commented Dec 13, 2023 at 14:09
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Perhaps some form of praecedit?– Ray ButterworthCommented Dec 15, 2023 at 13:33
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2 Answers
How about antecedens "preceding" as the opposite of sequela "that which follows".
Not sure if these are it, but what about prologus or prooemium?
A prologus in ancient drama is that section at the beginning of a play that sets out the background, characters, and context for the listeners, in essence providing a mini-story in order to enjoy the story.
A prooemium, which seems to fit your context less than prologus, is just any introductory part of a work. It could be the preface of a history or the prologus of a play all the same.
