Characterful piece given alternative title, oddly (8)
I believe the answer is:
vignette
'characterful piece' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both man-made objects as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps there's an association between them I don't understand?
'given alternative title oddly' is the wordplay.
'alternative' indicates anagramming the letters.
'oddly' indicates alternate letters (letters in the odd-numbered positions are used).
The alternating letters of 'title' are 'tte'.
'given' with letters rearranged gives 'vigne'.
'vigne'+'tte'='VIGNETTE'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for vignette that I've seen before include "Small illustration, sketch" , "Photographic portrait" , "Brief evocative description" , "Character sketch - word picture" , "Small illustration at the beginning or end of a book" .)