Chiasmus

In rhetoric, chiasmus (/kaɪˈæzməs/ ky-AZ-məs) or, less commonly, chiasm (Latin term from Greek χίασμα, "crossing", from the Greek χιάζω, chiázō, "to shape like the letter Χ"), is a "reversal of grammatical structures in successive phrases or clauses – but no repetition of words".^[1]

A similar device, antimetabole, also involves a reversal of grammatical structures in successive phrases or clauses in an A-B-B-A configuration, but unlike chiasmus, presents a repetition of words.^[2]

Examples

Chiasmus balances words or phrases with similar, though not identical, meanings:

But O, what damned minutes tells he o'er
Who dotes, yet doubts; suspects, yet strongly loves.

— 

Shakespeare, Othello

3.3

By day the frolic, and the dance by night.

— Samuel Johnson, The Vanity of Human Wishes (1749)^[3]

Despised, if ugly; if she's fair, betrayed.

— Mary Leapor, "Essay on Woman" (1751)^[4]

For comparison, the following is considered antimetabole, in which the reversal in structure involves the same words:

Pleasure's a sin, and sometimes sin's a pleasure.

— Lord Byron, in Don Juan, (1824)^[5]

Both chiasmus and antimetabole can be used to reinforce antithesis.^[6] In chiasmus, the clauses display inverted parallelism. Chiasmus was particularly popular in the literature of the ancient world, including Hebrew, Greek, Latin and Ancient K'iche' Maya,^[7] where it was used to articulate the balance of order within the text. Many long and complex chiasmi have been found in Shakespeare^[8] and the Greek and Hebrew texts of the Bible.^[9] It is also found throughout the Quran^[10] and the Book of Mormon.^[11]

Conceptual chiasmus

Chiasmus can be used in the structure of entire passages to parallel concepts or ideas. This process, termed "conceptual chiasmus", uses a criss-crossing

Chiasmus derives its effectiveness from its symmetrical structure. The structural symmetry of the chiasmus imposes the impression upon the reader or listener that the entire argument has been accounted for.^[13] In other words, chiasmus creates only two sides of an argument or idea for the listener to consider, and then leads the listener to favor one side of the argument.

Thematic chiasmus

The

See also

• Antanaclasis
• Antimetabole
• Arch form
• Chiastic structure
• Contrapposto
• Figure of speech
• Golden line (a Latin poetic line based on an abAB structure)
• Palindrome
• Rhetoric
• Russian reversal
• Silver line (a Latin poetic line based on an abBA structure)
• Spoonerism
• Synchysis (the reverse of the chiasmus)
• The Throne Verse
• Transpositional pun

References

1. ^ Corbett and Connors, 1999. p. 58–59, 74
2. ^ Baldick,2008. p. 17
3. ^ Corbett and Connors, 1999. p. 63
4. ^ Baldick,2008. p.52–53
5. ^ Baldick,2008. p.52
6. ^ Corbett and Connors, 1999. p. 59
7. ISBN 978-1607321798
   . Retrieved September 7, 2019.
8. S2CID 170466856
   .
9. OCLC 30893460
   .
10. ^ Ahmadi, Mohamadnabi. "Semantic and Rhetorical Aspects of Chiasmus in the Holy Quran". Retrieved November 27, 2015.
11. ISBN 978-0195168884
    .
12. ^
    OCLC 45276826
    .
13. ^ Lissner, Patricia (2007). Chi-thinking: Chiasmus and Cognition (PDF). University of Maryland. p. 217. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 26, 2010. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
14. ^ CF.hum.uva.nl
15. ISBN 9780567655493
    .

Sources

• ISBN 978-0-19-920827-2
• ISBN 0-19-511543-0
• ISBN 978-0-425-27618-1
• Lund, Nils Wilhelm (1942). Chiasmus in the New Testament, a study in formgeschichte. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
  OCLC 2516087
  .
• McCoy, Brad (Fall 2003). "Chiasmus: An Important Structural Device Commonly Found in Biblical Literature" (PDF). CTS Journal. 9 (2). Albuquerque, New Mexico: Chafer Theological Seminary: 18–34. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 22, 2012. Retrieved June 18, 2014.
• ISBN 978-0-934893-36-7. Archived from the original
  (PDF) on July 14, 2014. Retrieved June 18, 2014.
• OCLC 402001
  .
• Welch, John W. (1995). "Criteria for Identifying and Evaluating the Presence of Chiasmus". Journal of Book of Mormon Studies. 4 (2). Brigham Young University. Archived from the original on October 13, 2015. Retrieved June 18, 2014.
• OCLC 40126818
  .

External links

Look up chiasmus in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Chiasmus, Rhetorical Figures, by Gideon O. Burton (professor of rhetoric and composition, BYU), at humanities.byu.edu/rhetoric
• Chiasmus Explained at LiteraryDevices