Literary terms: what is the antithesis

Among the artistic means that make our speech vivid, imaginative, expressive, one of the main places is occupied by the antithesis.

Definition

The term came to us from the Greek language, and his translation very well explains what an antithesis is. This opposition, the contrast between objects, phenomena, the meanings of words and concepts. Antithesis is widely used in artistic speech at the level of vocabulary, syntax, and stylistics. By the principle of opposition, images of a work can be created, its internal meanings expressed, and certain ideological theories can be constructed. Many of the techniques of speaking are also excellent examples of what an antithesis is. But we should understand: this opposition is possible only between something that has some internal, deep connections between each other. As an example, we can recall the main characters of Pushkin's novel "Eugene Onegin". Opposite in it are Onegin and the Author, Onegin and Lensky, Onegin and Tatiana, Tatiana and Olga. Thus, the characteristic of the relationship between Onegin and Lensky, their fundamental differences are expressed by Pushkin in an unusually precise, capacious and deep way by comparing "verses and prose", "ice and flame," etc. This is a clear demonstration of what an antithesis is lexical. In fact, it can be considered the use in one lexico-grammatical series of antonyms: war and peace, red and black, white snow and gray ice, etc.

Varieties of the antithesis

Figurative-expressive figures of language and speech can be either explicit or hidden, or contextual in nature. For example, in the proverb about the spool, which is small and expensive, the epithets-adjectives "small" and "expensive" -in general language practice, are not antonyms. In the proverb they acquire an additional, portable meaning and express already opposing concepts: the value of an object is determined not by its dimensions or other physical parameters, but by other qualities. Therefore, it is at least small, but expensive, i.e. important. Thus, the proverb demonstrates that such an antithesis is occasional, contextual. In general, the trails that make up the figure of speech often bring an additional, hidden meaning to it. What other types of antithesis are distinguished in literary criticism?

1. Conceptual, or figurative. Objects (in a broad sense) contrast with each other.
2. Antithesis in works as an expression of contrast itself or the degree of opposition.
3. Contrast as an additional means to highlight a single hero of the literary text (Pechorin in The Hero of Our Time, Bazarov in Fathers and Children, Mtsyri in the eponymous poem).
4. The antithesis in the poem can become the main ideological and semantic center on which the lyrical miniature is built. For example, Lermontov's poem "When the yellowing field" worries, "Motherland", as well as "Autumn" by Pushkin and others.

Antithesis in colloquial speech

Speaking is very emotional and expressive. And the antithesis plays in it not the least role. After all, most of our comparisons, descriptions, characteristics in conversations and everyday communication are based on the principle of contrast, comparison, opposition.