contextualism

American  

[kuhn-teks-choo-uh-liz-uhm] / kənˈtɛks tʃu əˌlɪz əm /

noun

1. (in motion-picture criticism) the theory that all incidents in a film must be viewed in the social, political, and cultural context with which the film concerns itself and in which it was made.

2. Architecture. the aesthetic position that a building or the like should be designed for harmony or a meaningful relationship with other such elements already existing in its vicinity.

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Other Word Forms

• contextualist noun

Etymology

Origin of contextualism

First recorded in 1925–30; contextual + -ism

Example Sentences

The architecture has a certain giddy touch, joyously untempered by the good taste of contextualism so often claimed as an urban ideal.

From New York Times