And the word echoes: A taxonomy of repetitions in the sense of an ending

‘Repetition’, as a literary technique, was effectively applied in Julian Barnes’ The Sense of an Ending. It was used to explain the imperfection and subjectivity of both memory and history, and to show the richness of human emotions that cannot be generalized by any universal philosophy. However, this particular technique has not been sufficiently explored by researchers. Regarding this, the study offers a taxonomy of the literary repetitions in the book to illustrate how they further its theme. These repetitions were mainly classified into three categories: the repetitive emergence of same scenes, the similar scenes with significant variations, and the identical sentences with different meanings. The study aim is to explain how they have echoed through the whole story, and implied the obsession, the misinterpretation, and the consequences. Key words: Julian Barnes, the sense of an ending, literary repetition.