Can I use the expression unfold against talking about some literature/movie/theatre actions. For example, The plot of this performance unfolds against historical background?
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1That's not quite the right way to look at this. "Against a historical background" is providing a context for "The plot... unfolds".– RupeCommented Jun 19, 2014 at 13:14
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well... i'm quite sure, that i can say “plot unfolds”. can i use “against historical background” to continue this sentence?– BukvaCeCommented Jun 19, 2014 at 13:21
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You do need the "a" after "against" but apart from that yes the sentence seems fine to me. It's just not helpful to think of "unfold against" as an expression.– RupeCommented Jun 19, 2014 at 13:28
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Rupe, how would you call this construction? I a freshman here, I'm not closely acquainted with your terminology.– BukvaCeCommented Jun 19, 2014 at 13:33
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2I wouldn't call it a construction at all. I would say that "unfolds" and "against" are just words that happen to follow each other in the sentence. The structure of the sentence is <X happens> <against a type of background>. So for example you could also say things like "The action takes place against a background of civil unrest" or "The children grew up against a background of domestic violence", and so on.– RupeCommented Jun 19, 2014 at 13:38
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1 Answer
Not only can you do it, you'd be in good company--authors have been unfolding things against both backgrounds and backdrops for years, with backdrops being slightly more popular targets for unfolding than backgrounds. (The Pope, mystifyingly, comes in third.) Google News tells me that about a dozen things have unfolded against backdrops of other things within the past month or so, compared to just 3 things unfolding against backgrounds.
