Absurdity is conceptually defined as unfamiliar juxtapositions of familiar elements.

Evidence

What is the uncanny feeling elicited by absurd experiences? Earlier theorists typically offered one of two perspectives. Freud spent much of The Uncanny outlining the manner in which unfamiliar juxtapositions of familiar representations arouse the titular emotional experience. Two decades later, Breton’s Manifestoes of Surrealism (1924/1969) elaborated on Freud’s ideas and highlighted unexpected juxtapositions as the center of the emerging absurdist movement. Absurdity then came to be understood as unfamiliar juxtapositions of otherwise familiar elements. — Travis Proulx, Steven J. Heine, and Kathleen D. Vohs, When Is the Unfamiliar the Uncanny?…, 12

Categorization

• DEFINE: Offers the operational definition of absurdity (unfamiliar juxtapositions of familiar elements) that this whole experimental paradigm relies on.
• XREF: connects to: Absurdity is defined as familiar form leading to unfamiliar conclusions — Travis Proulx, Steven J. Heine, and Kathleen D. Vohs, When Is the Unfamiliar the Uncanny?…, 29; Strangeness is a specific proportion of nearness and distance — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 403; Novelty converts from absurd to accepted through repeated exposure — W. David Marx, Status and Culture: How Our Desire for…, 17 (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• Strangeness is a specific proportion of nearness and distance #expands (0.78) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 403
• Happenings deliberately assembled absurdist inventories of participants #exemplifies (0.76)
• Treating a metaphor literally exposes the absurdity of a claim #exemplifies (0.75) — , A Year of World Stories, 2439
• Symbols, unlike signs, represent the familiar-unfamiliar distinction within the familiar world #qualifies (0.75) — Diego Gambetta, Trust - Making and Breaking Cooperative…, 1350
• Novelty converts from absurd to accepted through repeated exposure #qualifies (0.74) — W. David Marx, Status and Culture, 17
• Magnifying stereotypes comically undermines their power and absurdity #exemplifies (0.73) — Evelyn Alsultany, Arabs and Muslims in the Media, 1398
• Absurdist art may arouse uncanny feelings and provoke defensive affirmation #exemplifies (0.72) — Travis Proulx, Steven J. Heine, and Kathleen D. Vohs, When Is the Unfamiliar the Uncanny?…, 10
• Conceptual abstraction is itself a metaphorical act because it posits resemblance among distinct existents #expands (0.72) — Fredric Jameson, Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic…, 507
• Concepts carry excess meaning that reveals the deceptiveness of immediate facts #expands (0.70) — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 426