Repetition in Literature

Repetition can create rhythm, emphasis, pattern, discomfort, humor or conceptual meaning. In experimental literature, the repeated element can become the entire structure.

Why repetition changes perception

A word that feels ordinary once can feel strange when repeated. Meaning becomes more visible as the reader notices sound, shape, rhythm and expectation.

Repetition as comedy

Comedy often depends on escalation and expectation. Extreme repetition can create a comic mismatch between the smallness of the material and the amount of attention given to it.

EW as a case study

EW makes repetition its primary literary material across 261 pages.