The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms

A psychological process of ‘casting off ’, identified and theorized by the Bulgarian-French psychoanalytic philosopher Julia Kristeva as the basis of

A shorter version of an otherwise lengthy written work; also the process of selective cutting that results in such an

A term derived from the *existentialism of Albert Camus, and often applied to the modern sense of human

A dramatic tradition which arose from the *Renaissance, in which the works of Plautus, Terence, and other ancient

Possessing the full number of syllables in the final *foot (of a metrical verse line); not *catalectic.

The emphasis placed upon a syllable in pronunciation. The term is often used as a synonym for *stress,

Verse in which the *metre is based on counting only the number of stressed syllables in a line, and

Verse in which the *metre assumes the counting both of stressed syllables and of the total number of syllables

The Greek word for ‘headless’, applied to a metrical verse line that lacks the first syllable expected according to regular

A short-lived (c.1911–21) but significant movement in early 20th-century Russian poetry, aiming for precision and clarity in

Usually a poem in which the initial letters of each line can be read down the page to spell either

A major division in the action of a play, comprising one or more *scenes. A break between acts

In the *narratology of A. J. Greimas, one of six basic categories of fictional role common to all

Another word for a *proverb or *maxim.

The process of making a work of art upon the basis of elements provided by an earlier work in a

A loose but commonly accepted term for a kind of prose *narrative addressed for the most part to boys,

A *figure of speech related to *hyperbole that emphasizes the inexpressibility of some thing, idea, or feeling, either

The doctrine or disposition that regards beauty as an end in itself, and attempts to preserve the arts from subordination

Philosophical investigation into the nature of beauty and the perception of beauty, especially in the arts; the theory of art

Pertaining to emotional effects or dispositions (known in psychology as ‘affects’). Affective criticism or affectivism evaluates literary works in terms