docudrama en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (Southern-England) audio
- (General-American) audio
- /ˈdɒkjʊˌdɹɑːmə/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- /ˈdɑkjəˌdɹɑmə/ (General-American)
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *deḱ- Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éyeti Proto-Indo-European *doḱ-éye-ti Proto-Italic *dokejō Proto-Italic *dokeō Ancient Greek διδάσκω (didáskō)sl. Latin doceō Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥ Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥tom Proto-Italic *-mentom Latin -mentum Latin documentumbor. French document Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āzios Latin -āriusder. French -aire French documentairebor. English documentary Ancient Greek δράω (dráō) Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥ Proto-Hellenic *-mə Ancient Greek -μᾰ (-mă) Ancient Greek δρᾶμᾰ (drâmă)bor. Late Latin drāmabor. English drama blend English docudrama Blend of documentary + drama.
Meanings
-
(US, countable, uncountable) A type of drama (a film, play, television show, etc.) that combines elements of documentary and drama, to some extent showing real events and to some extent using actors performing recreations of documented events.
Fenny Compton featured in the recent TV docudrama Mr Bates vs The Post Office. It was where the first meeting of postmasters took place in 2009, organised by sub-postmaster Alan Bates to begin mounting a fight for justice in the now well-publicised Post Office scandal.
2024 April 3, Stephen Roberts, “Bradshaw’s Britain: Destination Harrow”, in Rail, number 1006, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 57:In other words, docudrama covers an amazing variety of dramatic forms, bound together by two things. They are all based on or inspired by reality, by the lives of real people, or by events that have happened in the recent or not too distant past. Furthermore, they would seem to have a higher responsibility to accuracy and to truth than does fiction.
1999, “Introduction”, in Alan Rosenthal, editor, Why Docudrama?: Fact-fiction on Film and TV, Carbondale; Edwardsville, Ill.: Southern Illinois University Press, →ISBN, page xv:And docudramas would be the perfect epitaph because, though Norman Kingsley Mailer dreamed of being the monarch of the American novel, he was finally the king of faction, the man whose greatest books, a nightmare for any librarian hoping neatly to classify as fiction or non-fiction, consolidated the now standard view that reporting is as important to storytelling as invention.
2007 November 12, Mark Lawson, “The king of faction”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 10 Oct 2025:Ever since Roots, historical "docu[-]dramas" and "mini-series" have flourished on television and competed successfully for top ratings. […] "History" is not sick. On the other hand, the teaching of history may be.
1987 February–March, Bernard A[llen] Weisberger, “American History is Falling Down”, in American Heritage, volume 38, number 2, Rockville, Md.: American Heritage Publishing Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 10 Sep 2025, page 32, column 1:What he saw was a school system in defeat, in panic. When a man must fight he reaches for such weapons as he has and understands. Early last summer, Phil[lip C.] Lewis stripped the cover off his typewriter, squared a sheet of paper on the platen, and invented DocuDrama. It's a dramatization of the fix the schools are in.
1957 September 28, William A[nthony] Caldwell, “The best investment society can make …”, in Bergen Evening Record, volume 63, number 98, Hackensack, N.J.: The Bergen Evening Record Corp., →OCLC, week-end magazine section, page 2, column 3:A docu-drama entitled "Crisis in the Local Congregation" on extremism was presented by a group from the Fourth Avenue Methodist Church under the directorship of Mr. Martin Bard.
1967, “Morning Session: January 18, 1967”, in Journal of the Twenty-seventh Annual Meeting of the Board of Missions of the Methodist Church and the National Division, World Division, Woman’s Division, Joint Commission on Education and Cultivation: Netherland Hilton Hotel, Cincinnati, Ohio and Sheraton Hotel, Louisville, Kentucky: January 11–20, 1967, New York, N.Y.: Board of Missions, The Methodist Church, →OCLC, page 28:"Docudrama" is by its nature a confusing genre—neither fish nor fowl, and thus lacking either taste or substance.
2008 December 30, Bob Sommer, “The Education of David Frost”, in CounterPunch, Petrolia, Calif.: CounterPunch, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 10 Feb 2025:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| docu-drama | alternative | lexicographic | |
| docudramas | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Coordinates
Deriveds
docudramatize · mocudrama · docudramatist · docudramatic · docudramatization
Descendants
Relateds
documentary · documentarylike · drama · biodoc
Synonyms
drama documentary · dramamentary
Translations (47)
eu dokudrama (type of drama that combines elements of documentary and drama) · de Dokudrama (type of drama that combines elements of documentary and drama) · sh dokumentarna drȁma (type of drama that combines elements of documentary and drama) · nb dokudrama (type of drama that combines elements of documentary and drama) · pnb دستاویزی ڈراما (type of drama that combines elements of documentary and drama) · kn ಸಾಕ್ಷ್ಯಚಿತ್ರ ನಾಟಕ (type of drama that combines elements of documentary and drama) · tr yarı belgesel film (type of drama that combines elements of documentary and drama) · he דוקו־דרמה (type of drama that combines elements of documentary and drama) · cmn 紀錄式劇情片 /纪录式剧情片 (type of drama that combines elements of documentary and drama) · id drama dokumenter (type of drama that combines elements of documentary and drama) · la lūdus documentarius (type of drama that combines elements of documentary and drama) · cmn 劇情式紀錄片 /剧情式纪录片 (type of drama that combines elements of documentary and drama) · nl docudrama (type of drama that combines elements of documentary and drama) · ms drama dokumentari (type of drama that combines elements of documentary and drama) · fi dokudraama (type of drama that combines elements of documentary and drama) · el δραματοποιημένο ντοκιμαντέρ (type of drama that combines elements of documentary and drama) · ckb بەڵگەفیلمی درامایی (type of drama that combines elements of documentary and drama) · ka დოკუმენტური დრამა (type of drama that combines elements of documentary and drama) · fr docufiction (type of drama that combines elements of documentary and drama) · ka დოკუდრამა (type of drama that combines elements of documentary and drama) · pl docudrama (type of drama that combines elements of documentary and drama) · fr documentaire dramatique (type of drama that combines elements of documentary and drama) · cs dokumentární drama (type of drama that combines elements of documentary and drama) · ru документа́льная дра́ма (type of drama that combines elements of documentary and drama) · sv dramadokumentär (type of drama that combines elements of documentary and drama) · ko 다큐멘터리 드라마 (type of drama that combines elements of documentary and drama) · bg документа́лна дра́ма (type of drama that combines elements of documentary and drama) · pt docudrama (type of drama that combines elements of documentary and drama) · sh dokudrȁma (type of drama that combines elements of documentary and drama) · th ละครสารคดี (type of drama that combines elements of documentary and drama) · uk документа́льна дра́ма (type of drama that combines elements of documentary and drama) · ka დოკუმენტალური დრამა (type of drama that combines elements of documentary and drama) · da dokudrama (type of drama that combines elements of documentary and drama) · cmn 文獻紀錄片 /文献纪录片 (type of drama that combines elements of documentary and drama) · ja ドキュメンタリードラマ (type of drama that combines elements of documentary and drama) · ja ドキュドラマ (type of drama that combines elements of documentary and drama) · ca docudrama (type of drama that combines elements of documentary and drama) · fi draamadokumentti (type of drama that combines elements of documentary and drama) · da dramadokumentar (type of drama that combines elements of documentary and drama) · it docudramma (type of drama that combines elements of documentary and drama) · ar دراما وثائقية (type of drama that combines elements of documentary and drama) · fa مستند درام (type of drama that combines elements of documentary and drama) · es docudrama (type of drama that combines elements of documentary and drama) · ko 다큐드라마 (type of drama that combines elements of documentary and drama) · es drama documental (type of drama that combines elements of documentary and drama) · ur دستاویزی ڈراما (type of drama that combines elements of documentary and drama) · fr docudrame (type of drama that combines elements of documentary and drama)
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