1. adherence to the exact letter or the literal sense especially of a written work
2. a literal portrayal or interpretation

Examples

• The judge’s literalism in interpreting the law left no room for flexibility.
• Biblical literalism requires accepting every word as factually true.
• Her literalism made it difficult for her to appreciate poetry’s deeper meanings.
• The artist rejected literalism in favor of abstract expression.
• Constitutional literalism focuses strictly on the text’s original meaning.
• His literalism prevented him from understanding the joke’s irony.
• The translation suffered from excessive literalism that ignored cultural context.