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Thread: Calling literary intellectuals (seriously!)

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    Senior Member Desert Orchid's Avatar
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    Calling literary intellectuals (seriously!)

    Can anyone tell me the name of the literary term for when the title of a work appears within the text, eg:

    In A Streetcar Named Desire, Blanche says, "... they told me to take a streetcar named Desire..."

    (Eponym/eponymous is something different.)

    Thanks in advance.
    Illegitimi non carborundum


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    Not sure. Is it an intertitle?

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    Senior Member Desert Orchid's Avatar
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    Looks like 'intertitle' is a motion picture technique:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intertitle
    Illegitimi non carborundum


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    Allusion
    Narrative Hook
    Motif

    Sort of but not quite

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    Senior Member Desert Orchid's Avatar
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    Hmm, not as I understand them, Drone.

    It's kind of like an eponym but different, which is what's causing the bother.

    You could say "Desire" is the eponymous streetcar but it doesn't cover the idea of the title of the story being mentioned as part of the text.

    There's also a line in To Kill a Mockingbird with says something like, "Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy . . . but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”
    Last edited by Desert Orchid; 17th November 2017 at 1:09 PM.
    Illegitimi non carborundum


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    If you fancy a quiet weekend in front of the 'puter have a plough through this lot:

    https://literarydevices.net/

    Hope there's a name lurking on that long list for what seems to be 'a literary device used to produce an eye-catching title by employing a memorable phrase from the book'

    Harper Lee wanted to call To Kill a Mockingbird 'Atticus'. A good writer but obviously not a saleswoman

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    Senior Member Desert Orchid's Avatar
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    I had a quick look through that list and checked the ones I didn't recognise. I don't think it's in there.
    Illegitimi non carborundum


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    Does this help?
    http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TitleDrop

    Sorry if it's not linked correctly- I'm typing this from a phone I can barely work!
    An eye for an eye, and the whole world would be blind. -
    Kahlil Gibran

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    Senior Member Desert Orchid's Avatar
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    Indeed it does, Triptych!

    Mrs O just confirmed the same. (She's a retired DHT, formerly head of English Dept.)

    Title Drop sounds good if the title is decided first otherwise my sense of logic would want something like Title Uplift but apparently it does work both ways.

    Many thanks.
    Illegitimi non carborundum


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    Senior Member an capall's Avatar
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    Intriguing discussion. Congrats on getting to the bottom of it.
    "And still they gazed and still the wonder grew. That one small head could carry all he knew.

    And that small head knew that Impaire Et Passe would win the Champion Hurdle."

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