Lecture
Parallelism is widely found in folklore and ancient written literatures. In many of the oldest systems of versification it served as the principle underlying the construction of the strophe.
A particular type of parallelism (Lat. parallelismus membrorum) is known from ancient Hebrew (biblical) versification, in which parallelism proper is combined with synonymy, producing a variation of similar images. For example:
Set me as a seal upon thy heart, as a seal upon thine arm
— Song of Songs 8:6
In medieval Old Germanic verse parallelism is of great importance and is combined with alliteration as well as with rhyme.
Parallelism is widely used in Finnish folk verse, in particular in the Finnish epic «Kalevala», where it is combined with obligatory gradation:
Six grains he finds,
Seven seeds he gathers.
Parallelism is connected with the structure of choral performance — amoebean composition. Folk forms of parallelism are widely used in the art song (Ger. Kunstlied).
In Russian folklore studies the term «parallelism» has been applied not only in its generally accepted sense but also in a narrower one. This term denoted «a feature of poetic composition consisting in the juxtaposition of one (principal) action with other (secondary) actions observed in the world external to man».
The simplest type of parallelism in Russian folklore is the two-term type:
A falcon flew across the sky,
A young man walked about the world.
It is assumed that more complex types developed from two-term parallelism. Multi-term parallelism consists of several successive parallels. Negative parallelism is the kind in which the parallel drawn from the external world is contrasted with the human action, as though negating it:
It is not the white birch that bends to the ground —
It is the fair maiden who bows to her father.
In formal parallelism the logical connection between the juxtaposition of the external world and human actions is absent (or has been lost):
I will drop the little ring into the river,
And the little glove under the ice,
We have joined the commune,
Let the whole people be the judge.
Later written literatures borrow parallelism from folklore and ancient written literatures. In particular, the development of parallelism is characteristic of ancient literature. Under its influence, parallelism came to be thoroughly examined in ancient rhetoric.
In European belles-lettres parallelism becomes more complex: it is widely combined with anaphora, antithesis, chiasmus, and other figures.
An example of parallelism with anaphora and antithesis: «I am a tsar — I am a slave — I am a worm — I am a God!» (Derzhavin. God).
Folk forms are often reproduced in literature:
In the blue sky the stars gleam,
In the blue sea the waves lash;
A cloud moves across the sky,
A cask floats upon the sea.
— Pushkin A. S. The Tale of Tsar Saltan
| Figures of speech | |
|---|---|
| Figures |
Adynaton • Allusion • Amplification • Anadiplosis • Anacoluthon • Anaphora • Antithesis • Antitheton • Apocope • Apostrophe • Attraction • Asyndeton • Hyperbaton •Homoioteleuton • Gradation (Climax, Anticlimax) • Distinctio • Zeugma • Isocolon • Nominative of theme • Inversion • Correctio • Mesarchia •Polyptoton • Polysyndeton • Oxymoron • Parallelism • Paronomasia • Parcellation • Periphrasis • Pleonasm • Prolepsis • Retardation •Rhetorical question • Rhetorical exclamation • Rhetorical address • Symploce • Solecism • Tautology • Exact repetition • Aposiopesis • Chiasmus • Exergasia •Ellipsis • Emphasis • Epiphora |
| Tropes |
Allegory • Antiphrasis • Asteism • Antonomasia • Hyperbole • Dysphemism • Irony • Pun • Catachresis • Litotes • Meiosis • Metaphor • Metonymy • Personification •Pathos • Periphrasis • Sarcasm • Synecdoche • Simile • Euphemism • Epithet |
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