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Literature vocabulary · Literary Devices and Figures of Speech

Conventional symbolism

Meaning in literature, with examples

nounAdvanced term

In literature, conventional symbolism means: The use of symbols whose meanings are widely recognized in a culture, such as white for purity or night for danger.

In Turkish: geleneksel simgecilik

How it is used

Used when discussing symbols that depend on shared cultural expectations rather than a meaning invented only within one text.

Example sentences

  1. The editor warned that the essay relies too heavily on conventional symbolism, treating roses and doves as if their meanings never shift.

    The term refers to familiar, inherited symbolic meanings rather than subtle symbols created uniquely by this essay's text.

  2. In class, we compared the poet's conventional symbolism of winter with the stranger personal symbols that appear later in the sequence.

    Here, conventional symbolism highlights symbols understood through common cultural codes, not private associations alone.

Common collocations

  • use conventional symbolism
  • conventional symbolism of color
  • cultural conventional symbolism
  • symbolAn object, person, place or event in a text that stands for a larger idea beyond its literal meaning, such as a journey that represents life.
  • metaphorA figure of speech that describes one thing as if it were something else, without using 'like' or 'as', to show a hidden similarity.

More terms: Literary Devices and Figures of Speech

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