Allusion
Allusion is literary, intertextual linking.
Allusion is used often in literature for its ability to capture the reader’s memory on the material she has read in the past. Allusion works by causing the reader to think back to a previous story, or a certain situation, and recall a key point, theme, or significance. Allusions enrich current literary experience by providing a much greater significance to the present by bring up a memory of the past. When a reader’s memory has then been triggered by something the author has written previously, for example, an earlier chapter or a previous book, one may apply the significance of the current situation or key point to what it is being compared to.
Harmon references to the movie King Kong: “The beauty killed the beast.” Allusions can play as a summarization of an idea, which is why this statement on the movie King Kong is considered an allusion.
Works Cited
- Frye, Northrop, et al. The Harper Handbook to Literature. 2nd ed. New York: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc. 1997.
- Harmon, William and C. Hugh Holman. A Handbook to Literature. 7th ed. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall 1996.