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Allusion, or alluding, is a figure of speech that makes a reference to someone or something by name (a person, object, location, etc.) without explaining how it relates to the given context,[1][2] so that the audience must realize the connection in their own minds.[3] When a connection is directly and explicitly explained (as opposed to indirectly implied), it is instead often simply termed a reference.[4][5][6] In the arts, a literary allusion puts the alluded text in a new context under which it assumes new meanings and denotations.[7] Literary allusion is closely related to parody and pastiche, which are also "text-linking" literary devices.[7]
In a wider, more informal context, an allusion is a passing or casually short statement indicating broader meaning. It is an incidental mention of something, either directly or by implication, such as "In the stock market, he met his Waterloo."
allusion, in literature, an implied or indirect reference to a person, event, or thing or to a part of another text.
The literary allusion is a device for the simultaneous activation of two texts. The activation is achieved through the manipulation of a special signal: a sign (simple or complex) in a given text characterized by an additional larger "referent." This referent is always an independent text. The simultaneous activation of the two texts thus connected results in the formation of intertextual patterns whose nature cannot be predetermined. ... The "free" nature of the intertextual patterns is the feature by which it would be possible to distinguish between the literary allusion and other closely related text-linking devices, such as parody and pastiche.