What does literalization mean?
Literalization is the act of making something literal or treating figurative material as if it were concrete and factual. It commonly appears in criticism of literature, film, visual art, religion, and media, where an interpreter may argue that a metaphor, symbol, or imaginative scene has been reduced to its plainest meaning. The word can be neutral when describing a deliberate translation or adaptation, but it often carries a negative connotation, suggesting that the original work's ambiguity, symbolism, or imaginative power has been lost. In a second use, literalization refers to interpreting language according to its literal sense, especially when doing so ignores idiom, irony, context, or metaphor. Although less common in everyday speech than literal or literalism, literalization provides a precise term for discussing the treatment of figurative and symbolic material.
nounThe act of making something literal or interpreting language, imagery, or an idea according to its literal meaning. The term often implies treating figurative material as if it were factual or concrete.
- The process of making figurative, abstract, or imaginative material concrete and literal.
- The act or practice of interpreting language, symbolism, or an idea according to its literal meaning.
"The adaptation risks the literalization of the novel's central metaphor."
"The director's literalization of the stage directions weakened the play's visual metaphor."
"Her literalization of an idiom led to an unintentionally comic exchange."
The plural is uncommon; the singular is often used both for an individual instance and for the general process.
"The study examines several literalizations of the same parable in modern visual art."
Literalization is where a metaphor stops hiding and starts standing in the spotlight.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does literalization come from?
Literalization is a modern English noun formed from literalize, which combines literal with the suffix -ize. Literal ultimately comes through French from Latin literalis, meaning "of letters" or "according to the letter," from littera, "letter." The suffix -ization subsequently formed the noun describing the resulting process or action.
Related word forms
How literalization is actually used
Chiefly formal and often evaluative, especially in literary, religious, visual-art, and media criticism. It may suggest that figurative material has been reduced to a blunt or inappropriate literal interpretation, although it can also describe a deliberate process without implying criticism.
Easily confused with literalization
Literalism is a tendency or principle of interpreting language strictly according to its literal meaning, whereas literalization is the process of making something literal or treating it literally.