contextualization

American  

[kuhn-teks-choo-uh-lahy-zay-shuhn] / kənˌtɛks tʃu ə laɪˈzeɪ ʃən /

noun

plural

contextualizations

1. the act or an instance of putting something in a particular context; explanation.

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Other Word Forms

• decontextualization noun
• recontextualization noun

Explanation

Contextualization is the process of considering the specific situation in which something exists (or existed) as you try to understand it. Contextualization of French culture in the late 1800s would include Impressionism and the construction of the Eiffel Tower. Contextualization comes from context and its Latin root contextus, "a joining or weaving together." This process involves putting events within a wider context — in other words, weaving together all the factors that affected a person's actions or a historical occurrence. Understanding why your little sister had a tantrum at her birthday party requires contextualization: she missed her nap and was already cranky, and another kid beat her at pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey.

Example Sentences

The story is important on its own, but it did need some level of contextualization for the audience.

From Salon • Oct. 26, 2023

The meaningful update includes a more poignant and broader contextualization of the tar pits.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 26, 2023

A right to erase himself, to be nobody, to get lost, to refuse contextualization as an historical artifact whose actions, emotions, and experiences belonged to some public body for study, meaning, and influence.

From Slate • Aug. 27, 2022

In more than 4,000 pages, he wove intricate analyses alongside rich contextualization, revealing musical history as a fraught terrain of argumentation, politics, and power.

From New York Times • Jul. 1, 2022

Sharp as they are individually, the anecdotes in many cases demand additional framing or linking — contextualization that would create a greater sense of an organic, resonant, multilayered whole.

From Washington Post • Feb. 7, 2022