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Literature vocabulary · Genres and Forms

Pastoral

Meaning in literature, with examples

nounAdvanced term

In literature, pastoral means: Literature presenting rural life, often idealized, to explore human concerns.

In Turkish: pastoral, çobanıl yazın

How it is used

Use for rural literary settings that explore peace, love or tensions with city life.

Example sentences

  1. The pastoral presents the shepherd's life as an escape from court politics.

    Rural peace is contrasted with political conflict at court.

  2. Her essay questions the pastoral ideal by pointing to the workers' poverty.

    The workers' hardship challenges an idealized view of rural life.

Common collocations

  • pastoral poetry
  • pastoral ideal
  • settingThe time and place in which a story happens, including its social background, historical period and atmosphere.
  • lyric poetryPoetry that expresses personal feeling, mood, or thought, often in a musical and concentrated form rather than telling a long story.

More terms: Genres and Forms

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