Cultural Allusions Cut to the Chase

“When a narrative alludes to something that has become a part of society’s consciousness,” Scribophile.com explains, that’s called a cultural allusion. The reference might be to:

• a fairy tale
• the Bible
• Greek or Roman mythology
• a work of literature
• a TV character
• an expression

In content writing, we’ve found at Say It For You, the “big deal” about cultural allusions is that, when they work, they instantly put the reader and you “on the same page”. It’s a way of saying to readers – “You know what I mean!”

Here are some interesting examples of cultural allusions I found in article titles:

• “Riches from Rags”, a story about the Vinted luxury clothing resale firm, is a play on the expression “from rags to riches”.
• “The L Word” – an article about loneliness, is a play on “the F word”.
• “Like Mother, Like Daughter”, is a play on the expression “like father, like son”.
• “The Group That Reads Together, Stays together” is a play on the aphorism “The Family that prays together, stays together”.
• “Friends With Health Benefits: – a play on” represents a play on “friends with benefits” (people who engage in intimacy without really formally dating each other).

“We’ll always have allusions,” writes Veronica Sanchez of Vanderbilt University, using as an example Martin Luther King, Jr’s “I Have a Dream” speech, in which King alluded to the Emancipation Proclamation, the Declaration of Independence, and the Bible.

The point of using allusions in writing blog posts might be to:

* get readers thinking about your subject in a new way
* get a point across without going into a lengthy explanation
* cement a bond between the writer and readers based on shared experiences and knowledge

The caution, of course, is that if the reader does not know the underlying story, literary tale or other reference point, the result might be annoyance rather than appreciation, reminding us as content writers to gauge our readers’ level of education and likelihood of familiarity with the reference.

Cultural allusions can certainly help “cut to the chase”, but it might be best to do just enough explaining to make your point clear.