abjection
in The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms
January 2015; p ublished online July 2015 .
Reference Entry. Subjects: Literary Theory and Cultural Studies. 140 words.
A psychological process of ‘casting off ’, identified and theorized by the Bulgarian-French psychoanalytic philosopher Julia Kristeva as the basis of
abridgement
in The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms
January 2015; p ublished online July 2015 .
Reference Entry. Subjects: Literary Theory and Cultural Studies. 82 words.
A shorter version of an otherwise lengthy written work; also the process of selective cutting that results in such an
absurd, the
in The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms
January 2015; p ublished online July 2015 .
Reference Entry. Subjects: Literary Theory and Cultural Studies. 172 words.
A term derived from the *existentialism of Albert Camus, and often applied to the modern sense of human
academic drama
in The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms
January 2015; p ublished online July 2015 .
Reference Entry. Subjects: Literary Theory and Cultural Studies. 64 words.
A dramatic tradition which arose from the *Renaissance, in which the works of Plautus, Terence, and other ancient
acatalectic
in The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms
January 2015; p ublished online July 2015 .
Reference Entry. Subjects: Literary Theory and Cultural Studies. 20 words.
Possessing the full number of syllables in the final *foot (of a metrical verse line); not *catalectic.
accent
in The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms
January 2015; p ublished online July 2015 .
Reference Entry. Subjects: Literary Theory and Cultural Studies. 139 words.
The emphasis placed upon a syllable in pronunciation. The term is often used as a synonym for *stress,
accentual verse
in The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms
January 2015; p ublished online July 2015 .
Reference Entry. Subjects: Literary Theory and Cultural Studies. 102 words.
Verse in which the *metre is based on counting only the number of stressed syllables in a line, and
accentual-syllabic verse
in The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms
January 2015; p ublished online July 2015 .
Reference Entry. Subjects: Literary Theory and Cultural Studies. 90 words.
Verse in which the *metre assumes the counting both of stressed syllables and of the total number of syllables
acephalous
in The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms
January 2015; p ublished online July 2015 .
Reference Entry. Subjects: Literary Theory and Cultural Studies. 48 words.
The Greek word for ‘headless’, applied to a metrical verse line that lacks the first syllable expected according to regular
Acmeism
in The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms
January 2015; p ublished online July 2015 .
Reference Entry. Subjects: Literary Theory and Cultural Studies. 79 words.
A short-lived (c.1911–21) but significant movement in early 20th-century Russian poetry, aiming for precision and clarity in
acrostic
in The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms
January 2015; p ublished online July 2015 .
Reference Entry. Subjects: Literary Theory and Cultural Studies. 93 words.
Usually a poem in which the initial letters of each line can be read down the page to spell either
act
in The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms
January 2015; p ublished online July 2015 .
Reference Entry. Subjects: Literary Theory and Cultural Studies. 46 words.
A major division in the action of a play, comprising one or more *scenes. A break between acts
actant
in The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms
January 2015; p ublished online July 2015 .
Reference Entry. Subjects: Literary Theory and Cultural Studies. 79 words.
In the *narratology of A. J. Greimas, one of six basic categories of fictional role common to all
adage
in The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms
January 2015; p ublished online July 2015 .
Reference Entry. Subjects: Literary Theory and Cultural Studies. 9 words.
Another word for a *proverb or *maxim.
adaptation
in The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms
January 2015; p ublished online July 2015 .
Reference Entry. Subjects: Literary Theory and Cultural Studies. 158 words.
The process of making a work of art upon the basis of elements provided by an earlier work in a
adventure story
in The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms
January 2015; p ublished online July 2015 .
Reference Entry. Subjects: Literary Theory and Cultural Studies. 203 words.
A loose but commonly accepted term for a kind of prose *narrative addressed for the most part to boys,
adynaton
in The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms
January 2015; p ublished online July 2015 .
Reference Entry. Subjects: Literary Theory and Cultural Studies. 71 words.
A *figure of speech related to *hyperbole that emphasizes the inexpressibility of some thing, idea, or feeling, either
Aestheticism
in The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms
January 2015; p ublished online July 2015 .
Reference Entry. Subjects: Literary Theory and Cultural Studies. 169 words.
The doctrine or disposition that regards beauty as an end in itself, and attempts to preserve the arts from subordination
aesthetics
in The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms
January 2015; p ublished online July 2015 .
Reference Entry. Subjects: Literary Theory and Cultural Studies. 30 words.
Philosophical investigation into the nature of beauty and the perception of beauty, especially in the arts; the theory of art
affective
in The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms
January 2015; p ublished online July 2015 .
Reference Entry. Subjects: Literary Theory and Cultural Studies. 99 words.
Pertaining to emotional effects or dispositions (known in psychology as ‘affects’). Affective criticism or affectivism evaluates literary works in terms