objective correlative

noun

, Literature.

1. a completely depicted situation or chain of events that objectifies a particular emotion in such a way as to produce or evoke that emotion in the reader.

Word History and Origins

Origin of objective correlative¹

First recorded in 1840–50

Example Sentences

It’s a sentimental story about love, work and friendship, meaningfully set against the backdrop of gaming — a subject which fiction too often treats as a narrative gimmick, objective correlative or some other transient device.

From New York Times

Auden once said, “to this day, I have never understood exactly what the objective correlative is.”

From Washington Post

That suggests “Top Chef: Portland” is the TV series that not only handled COVID-19 restrictions to finest effect but may also be the perfect objective correlative of our pandemic year more broadly.

From Los Angeles Times

“In a sophomore English class he’d taken at Park High, Mrs. Defrain was always going on about the objective correlative,” Wink writes, following a string of his own beautiful descriptions exemplifying just that concept.

From New York Times

In “Homeland’s” case, it’s not for lack of material; if anything, as we approach 20 years of the war on terror, the series’ continued relevance has become an objective correlative of the conflict’s endlessness.

From Los Angeles Times