Figures of Quality

Figures of quality, called «tropes» in traditional stylistics, are based on transfer of names.

We must distinguish three types of transfer:

1. transfer by contiguity;

2. transfer by similarity;

3. transfer by contrast.

Transfer by contiguity is based upon some real connection between the two notions: that which is named and the one the name of which is taken for the purpose.

Transfer by similarity is based on similarity, likeness of the two objects, real connection lacking completely.

Transfer by contrast is the use of words and expressions with the opposite meanings - opposite to those meant.

The transfer by contiguity forms the metonymic group of tropes; the transfer by similarity forms the metaphorical group; the transfer by contrast is irony.

Metonymic group. Metonymy proper. Metonymy is applying the name of an object to another object in some way connected with the first.

The metonymic connections between the two objects are manifold:

1. source of action instead of the action: «Give every manthine ear and few thy voice»;

2. effect instead of the cause: «He (fish) desperately takes the eath»;

3. characteristic feature instead of the object itself: «He was followed by a pair of heavy boots»;

4. symbol instead of the object symbolized: «crown» for «king».

Synecdoche. Synecdoche is a variety of metonymy. It consists in using the name of a part to denote the whole, or vice versa. E.g.: «To be a comrade with a wolf and owl...». In this example «wolf» and «owl» stand for wild beasts and birds in general.

Periphrasis. Periphrasis is in a way related to metonymy. It is a description of an object instead of its name. E.g.:

«Delia was studying under Rosenstock - you know his repute as a disturber of the piano keys» (instead of «a pianist»).

Metaphorical group. Metaphor. Metaphor is a transfer of the name of an object to another object on the basis of similarity, likeness, affinity of the two objects. At the same time there is no real connection between them, as in the case with metonymy. The stylistic function of a metaphor is not a mere nomination of the thing in question but rather its expressive characterization. E.g.:

«The machine sitting at the desk was no longer a man; it was a busy New York broker...» (0'Henry).

Metaphor has no formal limitations: it can be a word, a phrase, any part of a sentence, or a sentence as a whole. Metaphors are either simple or complex (prolonged). A simple, elementary metaphor is that which has no bearing on the context: it is a word, a phrase, a sentence. A prolonged metaphor is elaborated in a series of images logically connected with one another producing a general description of a character, a scene, etc.

Personification is a particular case of metaphor. It consists in attributing life and mind to inanimate things. Besides the actual objects of Nature abstractions of the mind, such as life, death, truth, wisdom, love, evil, hope, etc. are frequently personified. Thus, personification is ascribing human properties to lifeless objects.

In classical poetry of the 17^th century personification was a tribute to mythological tradition and to the laws of ancient rhetoric:

«How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth,

Stolen on his wing my three and twentieth year! »

(Milton)

In poetry and fiction of the last two centuries personification was used to impart the dynamic force to the description or to reproduce the particular mood by which the events described are coloured.

Personification is an important device used to depict the perception of the outer world by the lyrical hero.

In most cases personification is indicated by some formal signals. First of all, it is the use of personal pronouns «he» and she» with reference to lifeless things:

« Then Night, like some great loving mother, gently lays her hand at our fevered head... and, though she does not speak, we know what she would say...» (Jerome).

Personification is often achieved by the direct address:

«O stretch by reign, fair Peace, from shore to shore

Till conquest cease, and slavery be no more».

(A. Pope)

Another formal signal of personification is capitalized writing of the word which expresses a personified notion:

«No sleep till morn, when Youth and Pleasure meet

To chase the glowing Hours with flying feet».

(Byron)

One should bear in mind that sometimes the capital letter has nothing in common with personification, merely performing an emphasizing function.

Allusion. Allusion is a brief reference to some literary or historical event commonly known. The speaker (writer) is not explicit about what he means: he merely mentions some detail of what he thinks analogous in fiction or history to the topic discussed. Consider the following example:

«If the International paid well, Aitken took good care he got his pound of flesh...» (Chase).

Here the author alludes to Shakespeare's Shylock, a usurer in «The Merchant of Venice» who lends Antonio three thousand ducats for three months on condition that on expiration of the term, if the money is not paid back, Shylock is entitled to «an equal pound» of Antonio's «fair flesh».

Antonomasia. Metaphorical antonomasia is the use of the name of a historical, literary, mythological or biblical personage applied to a person whose characteristic features resemble those of the well-known original. Thus, a traitor may be referred to as Brutus, a ladies' man deserves the name of Don Juan.

Irony. Irony is a transfer based upon the opposition of the two notions: the notion named and the notion meant. Here we observe the greatest qualitative shift, if compared with metonymy (transfer by contiguity) and metaphor (transfer by similarity).

Irony is used with the aim of critical evaluation of the thing spoken about. E.g.:

«What a noble illustrations of the tender laws of this favoured country! - they let the paupers go to sleep!» (Dickens).

In oral speech irony is made prominent by emphatic intonation, mimic and gesticulation. In writing, the most typical signs are inverted commas or italics.

LECTURE 3