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Literature vocabulary · Criticism and Analysis

Defamiliarization

Meaning in literature, with examples

nounAdvanced term

In literature, defamiliarization means: Presenting familiar things in unusual ways so readers notice them afresh.

In Turkish: alışılmışı yabancılaştırma, alışkanlığı kırma

How it is used

Use when ordinary perception is disrupted by language or viewpoint; explain what becomes newly noticeable.

Example sentences

  1. The story uses defamiliarization by describing a dinner table through a stray dog's senses.

    The changed viewpoint makes familiar dining behavior seem unusual.

  2. We discussed the defamiliarization created by calling the clock a machine that eats afternoons.

    An unexpected description makes the ordinary passage of time more noticeable.

Common collocations

  • use defamiliarization
  • the effect of defamiliarization
  • literary theoryThe study of the ideas and methods used to read and interpret literature, such as structuralism, Marxism, psychoanalysis, feminism and postcolonial theory.
  • imageryDescriptive language that appeals to the senses, such as sight, sound, smell, taste and touch, so that readers can picture or feel what is described.

More terms: Criticism and Analysis

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