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Literature vocabulary · Character and Characterization

Characterization

Meaning in literature, with examples

/ˌkærəktəraɪˈzeɪʃn/nounCore term

In literature, characterization means: The ways a writer creates and reveals a character's personality, through description, actions, speech, thoughts and other characters' reactions.

In Turkish: karakter çizimi, karakterizasyon, kişi yaratımı

How it is used

A key term in reviews and essays. Critics distinguish direct characterization (the narrator tells us what a person is like) and indirect characterization (we infer it from actions and speech). Characterization can be rich, subtle, thin or one-dimensional.

Example sentences

  1. The plot is thin, but the characterization is outstanding.

  2. Most of the characterization comes through dialogue rather than description.

Common collocations

  • direct characterization
  • indirect characterization
  • subtle characterization
  • strong characterization
  • characterA person, or sometimes an animal or creature, who takes part in the events of a story, play or poem.
  • round characterA complex, many-sided character with mixed qualities and believable motives, who can surprise the reader in a convincing way.
  • flat characterA simple character built around one main quality or idea, who can be summed up in a sentence and does not change or surprise the reader.
  • dialogueThe words that characters speak to each other in a story, play or film; in prose it is usually shown in quotation marks.

More terms: Character and Characterization

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