diegetic

adjective

di·​e·​get·​ic ˌdī-ə-ˈje-tik 

: of or relating to diegesis

One of the primary qualities of those texts we understand as fiction is that they generate a diegetic order that has an astonishing independence from its text.

—Robert Scholes

especially : existing or occurring within the world of a narrative rather than as something external to that world

What the film does do, though, to really wonderful effect, is synchronize diegetic sounds—gunshots, explosions, tires screeching, windshield wipers wiping, engines revving, etc.—with its non-diegetic pop soundtrack.

—David Hollingshead

Music is integral to the world of Alfonso Cuarón's Roma, but it is also incidental, experienced only as part of the action. The remarkable 2018 film contains only diegetic uses of music; no song is ever superimposed over the deliberately paced action that takes place in Mexico City's Colonia Roma neighborhood at the dawn of the 1970s.

—Philip Sherburne

The writer … pointed out the director's use of diegetic music. We, as viewers, only hear music when a character in the world of the story hears music. This happens when they put in earphones, turn on a car stereo or play a record.

—Emily Ellot

Word History

First Known Use

1970, in the meaning defined above