Parataxis

For other uses, see Parataxis (disambiguation).

Parataxis (from Greek: παράταξις, "act of placing side by side"; from παρα, para "beside" + τάξις, táxis "arrangement") is a literary technique, in writing or speaking, that favors short, simple sentences, without conjunctions or with the use of coordinating, but not with subordinating conjunctions.[1][2] It contrasts with syntaxis and hypotaxis.

It is also used to describe a technique in poetry in which two images or fragments, usually starkly dissimilar images or fragments, are juxtaposed without a clear connection.[3] Readers are then left to make their own connections implied by the paratactic syntax. Ezra Pound, in his adaptation of Chinese and Japanese poetry, made the stark juxtaposition of images an important part of English-language poetry.[4]

  1. ^ Fish, Stanley (2011), How to Write a Sentence, p. 62, ISBN 978-0-06-184054-8
  2. ^ Butler, Christoper (2003), Structure and Function: A Guide to Three Major Structural-Functional Theories. Part 2: From clause to discourse and beyond, Studies in Language, vol. 64, John Benjamins Publishing Company, pp. 260–261, doi:10.1075/slcs.64, ISBN 9781588113580
  3. ^ "Parataxis Examples and Definition", Literary Devices, 5 May 2016, retrieved 16 April 2020
  4. ^ "The Cantos", Academy of American Poets, retrieved 16 April 2020