Flashback

Podcast 1 · Introduction

Flashback

A documentary-style narration: origin, meaning, and feel.

Part of speech

noun

Pronunciation

FLASH-back  /ˈflaʃbak/

Definition

A scene in a film, novel, or other work that represents an event that occurred earlier in the narrative; an unwanted involuntary memory of a past traumatic event; a sudden vivid recollection.

Plain meaning

A sudden, vivid return to a past moment — either as a storytelling technique that takes the narrative back in time, or as an involuntary psychological reliving of a past experience.

Register

Neutral. Standard in film, literature, and psychology. The psychological sense has specific clinical weight.