Allusion is a brief and indirect reference to a person, place, thing or idea of historical, cultural, literary or political significance. It does not describe in detail the person or thing to which it refers. It is just a passing comment and the writer expects the reader to possess enough knowledge to spot the allusion and grasp its importance in a text. (http://literarydevices.net/allusion/)
For instance, you make a literary allusion the moment you say, “I do not approve of this quixotic idea,” Quixotic means stupid and impractical derived from Cervantes’s “Don Quixote”, a story of a foolish knight and his misadventures.
In a wider, more informal context, an allusion is a passing or casually short statement indicating broader meaning. It is …show more content…
Allusion is an economical device, a figure of speech that uses a relatively short space to draw upon the ready stock of ideas, cultural memes or emotion already associated with a topic. Thus, an allusion is understandable only to those with prior knowledge of the covert reference in question, a mark of their cultural literacy.
The origin of allusion is in the Latin verb ludere, lusus est "to play with, jest." Recognizing the point of allusion's condensed riddle also reinforces cultural solidarity between the maker of the allusion and the hearer: their shared familiarity with allusion bonds them. Ted Cohen finds such a "cultivation of intimacy" to be an essential element of many jokes. Some aspect of the referent must be invoked and identified in order for the tacit association to be made; the allusion is indirect in part because "it depends on something more than mere substitution of a referent."
For instance, you make a literary allusion the moment you say, “I do not approve of this quixotic idea,” Quixotic means stupid and impractical derived from Cervantes’s “Don Quixote”, a story of a foolish knight and his misadventures.
In a wider, more informal context, an allusion is a passing or casually short statement indicating broader meaning. It is …show more content…
Allusion is an economical device, a figure of speech that uses a relatively short space to draw upon the ready stock of ideas, cultural memes or emotion already associated with a topic. Thus, an allusion is understandable only to those with prior knowledge of the covert reference in question, a mark of their cultural literacy.
The origin of allusion is in the Latin verb ludere, lusus est "to play with, jest." Recognizing the point of allusion's condensed riddle also reinforces cultural solidarity between the maker of the allusion and the hearer: their shared familiarity with allusion bonds them. Ted Cohen finds such a "cultivation of intimacy" to be an essential element of many jokes. Some aspect of the referent must be invoked and identified in order for the tacit association to be made; the allusion is indirect in part because "it depends on something more than mere substitution of a referent."