defamiliarization

American  

[dee-fuh-mil-yer-uh-zey-shuhn] / ˌdi fəˌmɪl jər əˈzeɪ ʃən /

noun

1. Art, Literature. a theory and technique, originating in the early 20th century, in which an artistic or literary work presents familiar objects or situations in an unfamiliar way, prolonging the perceptive process and allowing for a fresh perspective.

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Etymology

Origin of defamiliarization

de- + familiarize + -ation; loan translation of Russian ostranenie

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

defamiliarization

This idea of defamiliarization, made famous in a 1917 essay by Russian literary critic Viktor Shklovsky, builds on our tendency not to notice things we encounter frequently.

From Slate ● May 17, 2023

Sylvia Plath’s technique of defamiliarization ranges from tiny verbal witticisms that bite, to images that are deeply troubling.

From New York Times ● Oct. 21, 2021

These interludes do hint at Undine’s sense of defamiliarization, amid her new circumstances, but they are distracting.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 28, 2019

More than simply subverting expectations, the architects practice a kind of radical defamiliarization, using every tool at their disposal to create environments so perfectly off-kilter that they achieve an entirely new kind of balance.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 4, 2018

In 1917 a Russian guy, Viktor Shklovsky, came up with a word for this: defamiliarization.

From The Verge ● Oct. 27, 2018