Literary Terms, MIL-PHI
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Literary Terms Encyclopedia Articles By Title
Milesian tale
Milesian tale, originally one of a group of works written in Greek by Aristides of Miletus (2nd century bc), consisting......
minstrel
minstrel, (from Latin ministerium, “service”), between the 12th and 17th centuries, a professional entertainer......
miracle play
miracle play, one of three principal kinds of vernacular drama of the European Middle Ages (along with the mystery......
mirror for princes
mirror for princes, genre of advice literature that outlines basic principles of conduct for rulers and of the......
miscellany
miscellany, a collection of writings on various subjects. One of the first and best-known miscellanies in English......
mock-epic
mock-epic, form of satire that adapts the elevated heroic style of the classical epic poem to a trivial subject.......
moderne gennembrud, det
det moderne gennembrud, literary movement, beginning about 1870, dominated by the Danish critic Georg Brandes,......
Modernist literature
Modernist literature, the body of written works produced during Modernism, a period of experimentation in the arts......
Mongolian literature
Mongolian literature, the written works produced in any of the Mongolian languages of present-day Mongolia; the......
Monk’s Tale stanza
Monk’s Tale stanza, a stanza of eight five-stress lines with the rhyme scheme ababbcbc. The type was established......
monodrama
monodrama, a drama acted or designed to be acted by a single person. A number of plays by Samuel Beckett, including......
monogatari
monogatari, Japanese works of fiction, especially those written from the Heian to the Muromachi periods (794–1573).......
monologue
monologue, in literature and drama, an extended speech by one person. The term has several closely related meanings.......
monometer
monometer, a rare form of verse in which each line consists of a single metrical unit (a foot or dipody). The best-known......
monorhyme
monorhyme, a strophe or poem in which all the lines have the same end rhyme. Monorhymes are rare in English but......
morality play
morality play, an allegorical drama popular in Europe especially during the 15th and 16th centuries, in which the......
moro-moro
moro-moro, the earliest known form of organized theatre in the Philippines; it was created by Spanish priests.......
mosaic rhyme
mosaic rhyme, a type of multiple rhyme in which a single multisyllabic word is made to rhyme with two or more words,......
Muckraker
The muckrakers were a highly influential group of American investigative reporters, novelists, and critics who......
Murphy’s law
If you’ve ever muttered, “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong” (or something similar), you’ve cited Murphy’s......
muwashshaḥ
muwashshaḥ, (Arabic: “ode”), an Arabic poetic genre in strophic form developed in Muslim Spain in the 11th and......
mystery play
mystery play, one of three principal kinds of vernacular drama in Europe during the Middle Ages (along with the......
mystery story
mystery story, ages-old popular genre of tales dealing with the unknown as revealed through human or worldly dilemmas;......
Märchen
Märchen, folktale characterized by elements of magic or the supernatural, such as the endowment of a mortal character......
nanxi
nanxi, one of the first fully developed forms of Chinese drama. Nanxi emerged in the area around Wenzhou in southern......
narratology
narratology, in literary theory, the study of narrative structure. Narratology looks at what narratives have in......
narrator
narrator, one who tells a story. In a work of fiction the narrator determines the story’s point of view. If the......
National Book Awards
National Book Awards, annual awards given to books of the highest quality written by Americans and published by......
Nayanar
Nayanar, any of the Tamil poet-musicians of the 7th and 8th centuries ce who composed devotional hymns of great......
Nebula Award
Nebula Award, any of various annual awards presented by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA).......
negative capability
negative capability, a writer’s ability, “which Shakespeare possessed so enormously,” to accept “uncertainties,......
Negritude
Negritude, literary movement of the 1930s, ’40s, and ’50s that began among French-speaking African and Caribbean......
Neorealism
Neorealism, Italian literary and cinematic movement, flourishing especially after World War II, seeking to deal......
Nepali literature
Nepali literature, the body of writings in the Nepali language of Nepal. Before the Gurkha (Gorkha) conquest of......
New Comedy
New Comedy, Greek drama from about 320 bc to the mid-3rd century bc that offers a mildly satiric view of contemporary......
New Novel
New Novel, avant-garde novel of the mid-20th century that marked a radical departure from the conventions of the......
New Zealand literature
New Zealand literature, the body of literatures, both oral and written, produced in New Zealand. Like all Polynesian......
Newbery Medal
Newbery Medal, annual award given to the author of the most distinguished American children’s book of the previous......
Newdigate Prize
Newdigate Prize, poetry prize founded in 1805 by Sir Roger Newdigate and awarded at the University of Oxford. The......
news as narrative
All forms of news are constructed in a narrative way, but some forms of news are more narrative-driven than others.......
newspaper
newspaper, a publication and form of mass communication and mass media usually issued daily, weekly, or at other......
newspeak
newspeak, propagandistic language that is characterized by euphemism, circumlocution, and the inversion of customary......
neōteros
neōteros, any of a group of poets who sought to break away from the didactic-patriotic tradition of Latin poetry......
nix
nix, in Germanic mythology, a water being, half human, half fish, that lives in a beautiful underwater palace and......
noble savage
noble savage, in literature, an idealized concept of uncivilized man, who symbolizes the innate goodness of one......
nonfiction novel
nonfiction novel, story of actual people and actual events told with the dramatic techniques of a novel. The American......
nonfictional prose
nonfictional prose, any literary work that is based mainly on fact, even though it may contain fictional elements.......
- Introduction
- Style, Genres, Forms
- Descriptive, Narrative, Expository
- Essay, Genres, Forms
- Journalism, Provocation, Writing
- Philosophy, Politics, Writing
- Doctrinal, Philosophical, Religious
- Theology, Writers, Texts
- Interpretations, Analysis, Context
- Essays, Journalism, Memoirs
- Dialogues, Narratives, Essays
- Autobiography, Memoir, Essay
nonsense verse
nonsense verse, humorous or whimsical verse that differs from other comic verse in its resistance to any rational......
Norske Selskab
Norske Selskab, organization founded in 1772 by Norwegian students at the University of Copenhagen to free Norwegian......
Northeastern school
Northeastern school, group of 20th-century Brazilian regional writers whose fiction dealt primarily with the culture......
Norwegian literature
Norwegian literature, the body of writings by the Norwegian people. The roots of Norwegian literature reach back......
Novel
A novel is an invented prose narrative of considerable length and a certain complexity that deals imaginatively......
- Introduction
- Characterization, Plot, Setting
- Narrative, Point of View
- Entertainment, Education, Reflection
- Propaganda, Social Commentary, Fiction
- Age, Expression, Spirit
- Realism, Characterization, Structure
- Realism, Naturalism, Characterization
- Epic, Bildungsroman, Satire
- Social Commentary, Characterization, Satire
- Roman-a-clef, Fiction, Satire
- Popular Fiction, Genres, Characters
novel of manners
novel of manners, work of fiction that re-creates a social world, conveying with finely detailed observation the......
novella
novella, short and well-structured narrative, often realistic and satiric in tone, that influenced the development......
nursery rhyme
nursery rhyme, verse customarily told or sung to small children. The oral tradition of nursery rhymes is ancient,......
Oceanic literature
Oceanic literature, the traditional oral and written literatures of the indigenous people of Oceania, in particular......
ode
ode, ceremonious poem on an occasion of public or private dignity in which personal emotion and general meditation......
Old Comedy
Old Comedy, initial phase of ancient Greek comedy (c. 5th century bc), known through the works of Aristophanes.......
Old English literature
Old English literature, literature written in Old English c. 650–c. 1100. For a description of this period in the......
Onitsha market literature
Onitsha market literature, 20th-century genre of sentimental, moralistic novellas and pamphlets produced by a semiliterate......
onomatopoeia
onomatopoeia, the naming of a thing or action by a vocal imitation of the sound associated with it (such as buzz......
op-ed page
An op-ed is an essay published by a news outlet, either in print or online, that expresses the author’s viewpoint.......
oral literature
oral literature, the standard forms (or genres) of literature found in societies without writing. The term oral......
oratory
oratory, the rationale and practice of persuasive public speaking. It is immediate in its audience relationships......
organic form
organic form, the structure of a work that has grown naturally from the author’s subject and materials as opposed......
Organic unity
Organic unity, in literature, a structural principle, first discussed by Plato (in Phaedrus, Gorgias, and The Republic)......
Ossianic ballads
Ossianic ballads, Irish lyric and narrative poems dealing with the legends of Finn MacCumhaill and his war band.......
ottava rima
ottava rima, Italian stanza form composed of eight 11-syllable lines, rhyming abababcc. It originated in the late......
oxymoron
oxymoron, a word or group of words that is self-contradicting, as in bittersweet or plastic glass. Oxymorons are......
padam
padam, love poem in Carnatic music. A padam is slow in tempo and grave in import, and it is usually treated as......
paean
paean, solemn choral lyric of invocation, joy, or triumph, originating in ancient Greece, where it was addressed......
Pali literature
Pali literature, body of Buddhist texts in the Pali language. The word pali (literally, a “line”) came to be used......
Palindrome
Palindrome, word, number, sentence, or verse that reads the same backward or forward. The term derives from the......
panegyric
panegyric, eulogistic oration or laudatory discourse that originally was a speech delivered at an ancient Greek......
pansori
pansori, a traditional genre of Korean narrative song, typically performed dramatically by a vocalist accompanied......
pantoum
pantoum, a Malaysian poetic form in French and English. The pantoum consists of a series of quatrains rhyming abab......
parabasis
parabasis, an important choral ode in Greek Old Comedy delivered by the chorus at an intermission in the action......
parable
parable, short fictitious narrative that teaches a moral lesson, doctrine, standard of conduct, or religious principle.......
Paradox
Paradox, apparently self-contradictory statement, the underlying meaning of which is revealed only by careful scrutiny.......
parallelism
parallelism, in rhetoric, component of literary style in both prose and poetry, in which coordinate ideas are arranged......
parody
parody, in literature, an imitation of the style and manner of a particular writer or school of writers. Parody......
partimen
partimen, a lyric poem of dispute composed by Provençal troubadours in which one poet stated a proposition and......
partisan press
The term partisan press refers to journalism practiced within a political sphere, as opposed to a more independent......
pasquinade
pasquinade, brief and generally anonymous satirical comment in prose or verse that ridicules a contemporary leader......
Passion play
Passion play, religious drama of medieval origin dealing with the suffering, death, and Resurrection of Christ.......
pastoral literature
pastoral literature, class of literature that presents the society of shepherds as free from the complexity and......
pathetic fallacy
pathetic fallacy, poetic practice of attributing human emotion or responses to nature, inanimate objects, or animals.......
pattern poetry
pattern poetry, verse in which the typography or lines are arranged in an unusual configuration, usually to convey......
PEN/Nabokov Award
PEN/Nabokov Award, annual American literary award for lifetime achievement established by the PEN American Center,......
penny dreadful
penny dreadful, an inexpensive novel of violent adventure or crime that was especially popular in mid-to-late Victorian......
pensée
pensée, a thought expressed in literary form. A pensée can be short and in a specific form, such as an aphorism......
pentameter
pentameter, in poetry, a line of verse containing five metrical feet. In English verse, in which pentameter has......
Pereval
Pereval, group of post-Revolutionary Russian writers opposed to the suppression of nonconformist literature and......
Periods of American Literature
The history of American literature reaches from the oral traditions of Native peoples to the novels, poetry, and......
peripeteia
peripeteia, the turning point in a drama after which the plot moves steadily to its denouement. It is discussed......
periphrasis
periphrasis, the use of a longer phrasing in place of a possible shorter form of expression; a roundabout or indirect......
Persian literature
Persian literature, body of writings in New Persian (also called Modern Persian), the form of the Persian language......
persona
persona, in literature, the person who is understood to be speaking (or thinking or writing) a particular work.......
personification
personification, figure of speech in which human characteristics are attributed to an abstract quality, animal,......
Philander
Philander, in Renaissance literature, a common name for a flirtatious male character who has many love...