Romanticisation

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The act of portraying or describing something in an idealized, often exaggeratedly positive manner; the process of imbuing a subject with romantic qualities or emotions; the tendency to view events or experiences through a sentimental or nostalgic lens
2. The process by which an individual or culture enhances the appeal of a topic by adding fanciful, idealistic, or sentimental aspects; the elevation of ordinary subjects to a romantic or heroic status; the inclination to interpret reality with emotional or picturesque exaggeration
3. The action of representing situations or ideas with a focus on charm and beauty rather than accuracy; the transformation of factual or mundane content into an appealing, emotionally resonant narrative; the predisposition to color perceptions with wistful or idealistic overtones

Etymology: The word is built in the most ordinary way: "romantic" plus the suffix "-isation," which turns an adjective into a noun for the act or process of making something into the thing described. So "romanticisation" is the process of making something romantic, and in its usual sense, of making it seem more glamorous, appealing or idealised than it really is. The base word itself carries a long history, passing into English from French and tracing back to the Old French "romanz," a term for vernacular writing as opposed to Latin, which later came to mean the tales written in those languages. Because the suffix is so productive, the word follows a common English pattern: the same ending appears in "modernisation," "industrialisation" and "civilisation," each formed by attaching the suffix to an adjective or noun in the same way. The British spelling with "-isation" is the form most often seen in British English, while American English usually writes "romanticization."

Synonyms: idealization, glorification, romanticizing, embellishment, exaggeration

Antonyms: realism, pragmatism, disillusionment, criticism, denigration