Is there a term for repeated phrases (not a catch-phrase)?
There is a children's television program called "Ben & Holly" in which there are a few repeated phrases/themes. I'm trying to find the correct terminology to describe them.
Example 1: In almost every episode there is a variation of a phrase - usually "and I'm an elf" or "and we're elves", followed by the elf/elves blowing a horn.
Example 2: About once every 5 episodes a location is flooded with jelly and all the characters all shout "Jelly flood!"
motif should work for this.
a dominant or recurring idea in an artistic work.
Just found another possibility, epanalepsis, courtesy of a rhetorical devices page on YourDictionary.
repetition of the same word or phrase after other words have intervened.
Thought of another one as well: trope.
The word trope has also come to be used for describing commonly recurring literary and rhetorical devices, motifs or clichés in creative works.