Literary notes about evocative (AI summary)
In literature, the term "evocative" is used to signal an ability to conjure vivid images, feelings, and memories in the reader. Writers employ it to describe scenes or phrases that spark emotional resonance and a sense of nostalgia, as when a musical passage is said to be “evocative of dramatic suspense” ([1]) or a setting recalls distant cultural heritage ([2]). At times, "evocative" characterizes the subtle interplay between form and sentiment, imbuing descriptions with layers of personal meaning and sensory detail ([3], [4]). Whether evoking the grandeur of a bygone era ([5]) or the intangible power of association found in a single well-chosen word ([6]), the adjective enriches narrative depth by inviting readers to experience beyond mere literal description.
- And what could be more evocative of dramatic suspense than the sixteen bars before the mad, terrifying coda!
— from Chopin : the Man and His Music by James Huneker - The familiar country, evocative of a great part of my childhood, carried my thoughts hither and thither.
— from Memoirs of My Dead Life by George Moore - What matter, then, if Michelet was the least trustworthy of historians since he was the most personal and the most evocative?
— from Là-bas by J.-K. (Joris-Karl) Huysmans - The evocative power of perfume with regard to memory is compelling.
— from The Wolves of God, and Other Fey Stories by Wilfred Wilson - Turning from the old Latin inscription he viewed the church, so evocative in its fortress form of an earlier and more romantic century.
— from Mike Fletcher: A Novel by George Moore - It is the explanation of the power of words, which, apart from any images they awaken, are often irresistibly evocative of emotion.
— from The Beautiful: An Introduction to Psychological Aesthetics by Vernon Lee
