Epiphany

This is a specific type of defamiliaration (see last post) by which the ordinary is shown in an unfamiliar and radiant light as a sudden, almost spiritual, manifestation. It is common in James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man: "The green square of paper pinned round the lamp cast down a tender shade. On the dresser was a plate of sausages and white pudding and on the shelf there were eggs .... White pudding and eggs and sausages and cups of tea. How simple and beautiful was life after all!"

Defamiliarisation

This is a function of some literature, particularly poetry, as a general mode but more specifically when the mundane is suddenly made to seem strange or magical and no longer familiar. It makes us see the everyday with new eyes. It may be connected to an epiphany (see next post).