martianism means A minor movement in British poetry in the late 1970s and early 1980s, a kind of surrealism in which familiar things are described in unfamiliar ways. It carries an Arena rating of 1395, earned across 13 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, martianism ranks #751 of 17,132 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #2,070 of 17,140 for Most Whimsical Words, #2,344 of 17,163 for Funniest Words, #3,135 of 17,151 for The Improbable.
Why “martianism” is a great word
Martianism is a poetic technique of defamiliarization that renders everyday objects and experiences alien through startling, often mechanistic metaphors, as if observed by a being from another planet. Its name derives from Martian (pertaining to the planet Mars, and specifically from the poem 'A Martian Sends a Postcard Home' by Craig Raine, which typifies the style) + -ism (forming nouns of action or practice). The term was coined in the late 1970s in reference to Raine's work. Unlike Surrealism, which plumbs the unconscious for irrational dreamscapes, or Metaphysical poetry, which wrestles philosophical complexity into elaborate conceits, Martianism is a narrower, more visual craft: a conscious strategy of seeing the world anew. It is the fog described as a worn-out sheepskin coat on the hills, the typewriter’s keys clicking like a chain-smoker’s teeth, and the television screen perceived as a glass hive where lit people buzz—a playful, poignant reminder that our most familiar surroundings are but one description away from the utterly strange.
Etymology
From Martian + -ism.
noun
- A minor movement in British poetry in the late 1970s and early 1980s, a kind of surrealism in which familiar things are described in unfamiliar ways.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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