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Allusion
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==Allusion as cultural bond== The origin of {{lang|la|allusion}} is from the Latin noun {{lang|la|allusionem}} "a playing with, a reference to", from {{lang|la|alludere}} "to play, jest, make fun of", a compound of {{lang|la|ad}} "to" + {{lang|la|ludere}} "to play".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/allusion|title=allusion (n.)|last=Harper|first=Douglas|website=Online Etymology Dictionary|language=en|access-date=December 5, 2019}}</ref> Recognizing the point of allusion's condensed riddle also reinforces cultural solidarity between the maker of the allusion and the hearer: their shared familiarity with allusion bonds them. Ted Cohen finds such a "cultivation of intimacy" to be an essential element of many [[jokes]].<ref>Cohen, Ted (1999). ''Jokes: Philosophical Thoughts on Joking Matters''. University of Chicago Press]. p. 28f. Irwin 2001:note 8 noted the parallel.</ref> Some aspect of the referent must be invoked and identified for the tacit association to be made; the allusion is indirect in part because "it depends on something more than mere substitution of a referent".<ref>Irwin 2001:288</ref> The allusion depends as well on the author's intent; a reader may search out parallels to a figure of speech or a passage, of which the author was unaware, and offer them as unconscious allusions—coincidences that a critic might not find illuminating.{{dubious|date=April 2014}} Addressing such issues is an aspect of [[hermeneutics]]. William Irwin remarks that allusion moves in only one direction: "If A alludes to B, then B does not allude to A. The Bible does not allude to Shakespeare, though Shakespeare may allude to the Bible." Irwin appends a note: "Only a divine author, outside of time, would seem capable of alluding to a later text."<ref>Irwin 2001:289 and note 22.</ref> This is the basis for Christian readings of [[Bible prophecy|Old Testament prophecy]], which asserts that passages are to be read as allusions to future events. Allusion differs from the similar term ''[[intertextuality]]'' in that it is an intentional effort on the author's part.<ref name="preminger"/> The success of an allusion depends in part on at least some of its audience "getting" it. Allusions may be made increasingly obscure, until at last they are understood by the author alone, who thereby retreats into a [[private language]].
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