The interplay of foregrounding, defamiliarization, and refamiliarization: a systematic review and thematic analysis

Amid largely isolated discussions on foregrounding and defamiliarization, this systematic review aims to investigate the interconnectedness of foregrounding, defamiliarization, and refamiliarization, focusing on how they are found to collectively influence readers’ or viewers’ engagement and interpretations. A total of 45 peer-reviewed research articles and book chapters published between 1994 and 2024, selected based on their relevance to the study, were sourced from academic databases such as Google Scholar, Taylor & Francis, Web of Science, and Scopus. This review examines methodologies, types of texts, research tools, publication trends over the timeline, and citation distributions of the studies. Through thematic analysis, recurring patterns, as well as the scholarly domains in which the intersection of these concepts is being explored, are identified. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the current research landscape on the combined study of the concepts and identifies gaps for future studies in the field.