Literary notes about Repetition (AI summary)
In literature, repetition functions as a multifaceted device that can underscore emotional nuances, reinforce thematic elements, or even serve a structural purpose. Authors exploit its rhythmic and emphatic qualities to communicate character development or mood shifts, such as when a character’s repeated utterances reveal inner pride or resolve [1] or when excessive reiteration is critiqued as fatiguing to the style [2, 3]. Repetition can also serve as a mnemonic or ritualistic element, emphasizing key ideas in sacred texts or philosophical arguments [4, 5], while in narrative dialogue it often heightens tension or underscores dramatic irony, as seen in moments of abrupt halt [6] or the recurrence of motifs that define a character’s experience [7]. This deliberate recurrence, whether in language, sound, or conceptual structure, illustrates how repetition is employed across literary genres to shape meaning and influence the reader's perception.
- In Bazarov's repetition of Paul Petrovitch's words there echoed, this time, a note of pride.
— from Fathers and Sons by Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev - Excessive use of this construction (like frequent repetition of very ) is tiresome and weakens style.
— from An Advanced English Grammar with Exercises by Frank Edgar Farley and George Lyman Kittredge - 15. i.e. needless repetition ( ταὐτὸ λέγειν = to say the same thing).
— from Helps to Latin Translation at Sight by Edmund Luce - The repetition of ἐν αὐτῷ emphasizes the main idea of the passage, and indeed of the whole epistle.
— from St. Paul's Epistles to the Colossians and Philemon by J. B. Lightfoot - But this “how many times” is based upon successive repetition, consequently upon time and the synthesis of the homogeneous therein.
— from The Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant - 'Stop!' The repetition of the word, brought Toby to a dead stand-still.
— from Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens - Nicholas saw it, and ground his teeth at every repetition of the savage and cowardly attack.
— from Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens
