Abstract Diction - Abstract Imagery: Language that describes qualities that cannot be perceived with the five senses. For instance, calling something pleasant or pleasing is abstract, while calling something yellow or sour is concrete. The word domesticity is abstract, but the word sweat is concrete. The preference for abstract or concrete imagery varies from century to century. Philip Sidney praised concrete imagery in poetry in his 1595 treatise, Apologie for Poetrie. A century later, Neoclassical thought tended to value the generality of abstract thought. In the early 1800s, the Romantic poets like Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Shelley once again preferred concreteness. In the 20th century, the distinction between concrete and abstract has been a subject of some debate. Ezra Pound and T. E. Hulme attempted to create a theory of concrete poetry. T. S. Eliot added to this school of thought with his theory of the 'objective correlative.' Contrast with concrete diction / concrete imagery.

 

Related Words

Abstract Diction - Abstract Imagery: Language that describes qualities that cannot be perceived with the five senses. For instance, calling something pleasant or pleasing is abstract, while calling something yellow or sour is c . . . View Full Definition

Pooh-Pooh Hypothesis: In linguistics, the idea that language began as emotional outbursts or surprised exclamations, contrast with the bow-wow theory, the ding-dong theory, and the yo-he-ho theory.

Pop-Under Ad: An ad that displays in a new browser window behind the current browser window.

Policy-Procedures Manual: A detailed written document designed to assist managers and supervisors in carrying out their day-to-day responsibilities by acquainting them with all of the organization's policies and the . . . View Full Definition