Literary allusions are figures of speech that make reference, directly or indirectly, a place, event, literary work, myth, or even a work of art. It is generally left to the reader to make the connection, though sometimes the author will clearly articulate the particular allusion. If this is the case, the allusion is more appropriately termed a “reference.”Most of the time, the author places an allusion in a book by way of a single phrase or reference to something that is not explained to the reader. If the reader has read the work that the allusion refers to, he or she will understand the allusion. If not, the allusion might as well not exist for that particular reader.
When an author uses an allusion, it is typically done as an homage to a previous work that was written by a different author. Sometimes, an author may allude to their own previously published work, though this is less common. My own novels are full of allusions, though only someone familiar with my favorite authors would ever catch them. If you read Arianna’s Tale after reading works by JRR Tolkien, Lord Dunsany, Robert Jordan, Mercedes Lackey, or Terry Brooks, you will catch subtle references to each of their independent works. It is my way of honoring them without bringing too much attention to that fact.
When writing your own novel, you might feel the urge to make your own allusions to the work of authors you admire. There is no harm in this, and for the reader familiar with the allusions you choose, it can add depth and interest to your novel.
It is sometimes difficult to understand allusions without actually seeing on in action. For this reason, I am going to explain one of my favorite literary allusions, which can be found in Neil Gaiman’s Stardust:
“He thought of Victoria’s lips, and her grey eyes, and the sound of her laughter. He straightened his shoulders, placed the crystal snowdrop in the top buttonhole of his coat, now undone. And, too ignorant to be scared, too young to be awed, Tristran Thorn passed beyond the fields we know …” (Gaiman 54)
Much of the novel Stardust alludes to previously published work, often quite directly. In this particular passage, Gaiman is alluding to Dunsany’s The King of Elfland’s Daughter with his use of the phrase “the fields we know.” Dunsany uses this phrase frequently enough throughout The King of Elfland’s Daughter that it is instantly recognizable when it appears in Stardust.
Gaiman uses this phrase in much the same way Dunsany does, and for many of the same reasons. The words “beyond the fields we know” serve to remind the reader that Tristran is moving out of the everyday world and into the realm of Faerie. He passes from what would be acknowledged as normal into a place where nothing can be predicted and nothing is as “we know.”
In another sense, Gaiman uses this phrase to connect with the reader. By using the word “we,” Gaiman is implying that the door to Faerie, at least in Stardust, is not only found through the wall by the village of Wall, but in other places as well. The reader probably is not familiar with the fields of Wall, so using the phrase “the fields we know” might appear out of place. However, like Dunsany, Gaiman is telling the reader that his story happened in Wall, but it could have happened anywhere. Faerie is not a part of the physical world, and so it could be anywhere in “the fields we know.” This expression can resonate even with readers who unfamiliar with Dunsany and his work, including The King of Elfland’s Daughter.
Gaiman copied the phrase “beyond the fields we know” directly from The King of Elfland’s Daughter. It is certainly an homage to Dunsany, whom Gaiman mentions in his “Acknowledgments” at the end of the book. For the reader familiar with Dunsany, and likely for Gaiman himself, the use of this phrase is also a little piece of nostalgia, allowing the reader to connect Stardust directly to The King of Elfland’s Daughter.
