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People respond favourably to things they are familiar with. By using the literary technique known as an allusion, writers can connect with readers through shared understandings.
People respond favourably to things they are familiar with. By using the literary technique known as an allusion, writers can connect with readers through shared understandings.
Allusion - a type of figurative language that involves a deliberate cultural reference to a person, event, or text that the reader is familiar with.
Introduction
Introduction
Allusions allow writers to reinforce elements of their stories by referring to something else that the reader is aware of. This can provide a meaningful, and often comforting, reference point for the reader.
Icarus
Icarus
Let's consider a hypothetical situation to better understand how an allusion can engage readers.
Imagine we want to write a story about the dangers of exceeding one's limits. Needing a character who will push themselves too far, we decide to write about a young man who has just bought his first car.
To find out how fast his vehicle is, the young man quickly reaches, and then exceeds, the speed limit. As he continues to push the car further, warning lights flash on the dashboard, but he is too busy watching the speedometer to notice. So focused is the young driver that he does not see a car cross his lane in front of him to reach an exit ramp. Too late, he brakes, but his car skids into the other, and both careen off the road.
To reinforce the theme of this tragic story (that one should not exceed their limits) we can make an allusion to a cultural reference the audience may be familiar with.
In Greek mythology, Icarus was the son of Daedalus, a master craftsperson who designed the labyrinth that held the minotaur. To help he and his son escape from the island of Crete, Daedalus created wings from feathers and wax which would allow them to fly across the ocean.
Daedalus warned Icarus not to fly too close to the sun lest the heat melt the wax which held their wings together. Alas, Icarus in his excitement did just that, and then plummeted into the ocean as his wings fell apart.
Because the underlying message of this myth reinforces the theme of our own story, let's see if we can make an allusion to it:
Like Icarus flying too close to the sun, too late the young man realised his mistake.
No matter how hard he pressed the brake pedal, the two cars continued to move closer together, until they slammed into one another and spun, out of control, off the freeway.
If we have judged our audience correctly, they will recognise both the myth of Icarus, and its relevance to our own story. This should help to reinforce our underlying theme: that one should practice caution when tempted to exceed their limits.
Use Your Allusion
Use Your Allusion
Humans are social creatures, and all of our stories build on those that came before them.
By referring to these stories, along with other famous people and events that our readers are aware of, we connect our writing to these sources in meaningful ways.
Editor's Notes
Editor's Notes
Not all allusions need to be references to high-brow literature like Greek mythology.
The television show Family Guy is based almost entirely on references to pop culture, relying on its audience's ability to make humorous connections to the original material.
That said, the writers of Family Guy will sometimes slip in allusions to classical works to show their high-brow credentials, and maybe teach the audience a thing or two in the bargain.
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