analepsis

noun

an·a·lep·sis | \ ˌanəˈlepsə̇s \

plural analepses\ -(ˌ)sēz \

Definition of analepsis

1 Eastern Church : the feast of Christ's ascension into heaven

2a : a literary technique that involves interruption of the chronological sequence of events by interjection of events or scenes of earlier occurrence Through analepsis, Paul recounts the story of his uncle's mysterious disappearance and death during the violent days of October 1961 in Paris.— Lia Brozgal, French Forum, 22 Mar. 2009

b : a description of an event or scene from an earlier time that interrupts a chronological narrative : a literary flashback … Balzac had criticized the style of the Chartreuse and its too-linear construction, advising the author to eliminate everything that comes before Waterloo and sum it up in an analepsis …— Gérard Genette, Paratexts: Thresholds of Interpretation, 1997 In the course of the prophetic vision Artabanus also weaves in a brief analepsis, the Persian defeat at Marathon, … thereby countering Mardonius’ falsely optimistic picture of the Greek enemy …— Irene De Jong, Texts, Ideas, and the Classics: Scholarship, Theory, and Classical Literature, 2001