Literary notes about Incidental (AI summary)
In literature, incidental serves as a term to denote elements that are secondary or peripheral yet possess a significant, albeit subtle, effect on the overall narrative or argument. It is frequently used to describe details or occurrences that, while not central to the main theme, contribute to color, context, or a broader understanding of the subject. For instance, a fleeting comment that enriches a character’s portrayal or an auxiliary process that underpins a primary event may be termed incidental ([1], [2]). In more analytical or philosophical writings, authors use the word to distinguish between what is essential and what happens merely as a by-product of more dominant phenomena ([3], [4]), highlighting that even non-essential elements may offer useful insights or have consequential impacts ([5], [6]).
- Yet, singularly enough, there is an incidental reference to this very subject in what I am now about to say to you.
— from The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne - This device is introduced in an incidental way, and we are not prepared for the important place which it takes in the development of the plot.
— from The Devil is an Ass by Ben Jonson - Has the vanity of life hitherto been essential or incidental?
— from The Life of Reason: The Phases of Human Progress by George Santayana - In the former case the education is incidental; it is natural and important, but it is not the express reason of the association.
— from Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education by John Dewey - It is an old story that acts and processes which at the outset are incidental to something else develop and maintain an absorbing value of their own.
— from How We Think by John Dewey - INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
— from The Imitation of Christ by à Kempis Thomas
