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Chiasmus

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Chiasmus (latinized form of Greek χιασμός, from χίασμα (chiasm), "crossing") is a figure of speech based on inverted parallelism. This criss-crossing term derives its name from the X-shaped Greek letter χ (chi). It is a rhetorical figure in which two clauses are related to each another through a reversal of terms in order to make a larger point. In Latin, in particular, it was used to articulate balance or order within the text in which it was included.

Today, chiasmus is applied fairly broadly to any "criss-cross" structure, although in classical rhetoric, it was distinguished from other similar devices, such as the antimetabole. In its classical application, chiasmus would have been used for structures that do not repeat the same words and phrases, but invert a sentence's grammatical structure or ideas. The concept of chiasmus has been attributed to inverted order of themes in stories and plays called a chiastic structure.

The elements of a simple chiasmus are often labled in the form A B B A, where the letters correspond to grammar, words, or meaning.

Contents

Chiasmus in Inverted Meaning

But O, what damned minutes tells he o'er

Who dotes, yet doubts; suspects, yet strong loves. —Shakespeare, Othello 3.3

Dotes and strong loves share the same meaning and bracket doubts and suspects.

Chiasmus in Inverted Grammar

A parallel sentence would be:

A B A B

Inverting into chiasmus:

A B B A

Other examples:

The clause above follows the form of adjective, simile, gerundive, gerundive, simile, adjective (A B C C B A).

Chiasmus in Latin

Chiasmus is often used in Latin poetry as an alternative form of the golden line, but it can be found in prose as well.

visceribus atras pascit effossis aves (10)

“He feeds the black birds with his gutted wounds”

AbVaB

A and B denote nouns; a and b denote adjectives and the nouns they modify; V is the verb.

Adest vir summa auctoritate et religione et fide, M. Lucullus, qui se non opinari sed scire non audisse sed vidisse, non interfuisse sed egisse dicit. (8)

"There is a man present of the highest authority, duty, and faith, M. Lucullus who (will testify) that he himself does not believe but knows, does not hear but sees, was not only present but did it himself."

The grammar of the Latin follows the form of Verb, Subject, ablative, ablative, ablative, Subject, (relative clause in indirect statement), infinitive, infinitive, infinitive, Verb. The ablatives of quality are bracketed by the subjects they modify and form a chiasmus within a chiasmus.

A B b b b B a a a A

Chiasmus as a Synonym for Antimetabole

These examples are often quoted by modern commentators to demonstrate chiasmus, although they are defined as antimetabole in the classical sense. Chiasmus may be implied, as when Kermit the Frog says "Time's fun when you're having flies" or Mae West says "A hard man is good to find," or Jethro Tull's "In the beginning Man created God."

Chiasmus is not limited to an exchange of words; it can also involve the exchange of letters or syllables, as in "I’d Rather Have A Bottle In Front Of Me (Than A Frontal Lobotomy),"

An informal term for chiasmus introduced by Calvin Trillin and used particularly among political speechwriters is reversible raincoat sentences.

External links and references

See also

 

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