Poetry for Students

Volume 19 315

“schools,” sometimes producing conflicting, even

contradictory, interpretations of literature in gen-

eral as well as of individual works. Even such ba-

sic issues as what constitutes a poem or a novel

have been the subject of much criticism over the

centuries.

D

Dactyl:SeeFoot

Dadaism:A protest movement in art and literature

founded by Tristan Tzara in 1916. Followers of the

movement expressed their outrage at the destruc-

tion brought about by World War I by revolting

against numerous forms of social convention. The

Dadaists presented works marked by calculated

madness and flamboyant nonsense. They stressed

total freedom of expression, commonly through

primitive displays of emotion and illogical, often

senseless, poetry. The movement ended shortly af-

ter the war, when it was replaced by surrealism.

Decadent:SeeDecadents

Decadents:The followers of a nineteenth-century

literary movement that had its beginnings in French

aestheticism. Decadent literature displays a fasci-

nation with perverse and morbid states; a search for

novelty and sensation—the “new thrill”; a preoc-

cupation with mysticism; and a belief in the sense-

lessness of human existence. The movement is

closely associated with the doctrine Art for Art’s

Sake. The term “decadence” is sometimes used to

denote a decline in the quality of art or literature

following a period of greatness.

Deconstruction:A method of literary criticism de-

veloped by Jacques Derrida and characterized by

multiple conflicting interpretations of a given work.

Deconstructionists consider the impact of the lan-

guage of a work and suggest that the true meaning

of the work is not necessarily the meaning that the

author intended.

Deduction:The process of reaching a conclusion

through reasoning from general premises to a spe-

cific premise.

Denotation:The definition of a word, apart from

the impressions or feelings it creates in the reader.

Diction:The selection and arrangement of words

in a literary work. Either or both may vary de-

pending on the desired effect. There are four gen-

eral types of diction: “formal,” used in scholarly or

lofty writing; “informal,” used in relaxed but edu-

cated conversation; “colloquial,” used in everyday

speech; and “slang,” containing newly coined words

and other terms not accepted in formal usage.

Didactic:A term used to describe works of litera-

ture that aim to teach some moral, religious, polit-

ical, or practical lesson. Although didactic elements

are often found in artistically pleasing works, the

term “didactic” usually refers to literature in which

the message is more important than the form. The

term may also be used to criticize a work that the

critic finds “overly didactic,” that is, heavy-handed

in its delivery of a lesson.

Dimeter:SeeMeter

Dionysian:SeeApollonian and Dionysian

Discordia concours:A Latin phrase meaning “dis-

cord in harmony.” The term was coined by the

eighteenth-century English writer Samuel Johnson

to describe “a combination of dissimilar images or

discovery of occult resemblances in things appar-

ently unlike.” Johnson created the expression by re-

versing a phrase by the Latin poet Horace.

Dissonance:A combination of harsh or jarring

sounds, especially in poetry. Although such com-

binations may be accidental, poets sometimes in-

tentionally make them to achieve particular effects.

Dissonance is also sometimes used to refer to close

but not identical rhymes. When this is the case, the

word functions as a synonym for consonance.

Double Entendre:A corruption of a French phrase

meaning “double meaning.” The term is used to in-

dicate a word or phrase that is deliberately am-

biguous, especially when one of the meanings is

risque or improper.

Draft:Any preliminary version of a written work.

An author may write dozens of drafts which are re-

vised to form the final work, or he or she may write

only one, with few or no revisions.

Dramatic Monologue:SeeMonologue

Dramatic Poetry:Any lyric work that employs el-

ements of drama such as dialogue, conflict, or char-

acterization, but excluding works that are intended

for stage presentation.

Dream Allegory:SeeDream Vision

Dream Vision:A literary convention, chiefly of

the Middle Ages. In a dream vision a story is pre-

sented as a literal dream of the narrator. This de-

vice was commonly used to teach moral and

religious lessons.

E

Eclogue:In classical literature, a poem featuring

rural themes and structured as a dialogue among

shepherds. Eclogues often took specific poetic

forms, such as elegies or love poems. Some were

Glossary of Literary Terms

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