literal

Yes, well, that is the literal meaning.

But here it's not literal.

When doors start slamming and the sound of marching fills the rooms, it might be literal ghosts — but it might be historical ones, too.

But some authors take this link even further, where the connection isn’t just metaphorical, but literal.

It might refer to Chirli, the literal female dog of the novel, but it has the double meaning of being a not-so-nice term for women who don’t conform to societal expectations.

The translator Ros Schwartz likens it to translating a text from one language to another: the goal isn’t literal accuracy, it’s to “distill the spirit” of the original.