Lead: It’s a wonder to the literary arts – Use Synecdoche and make your writing pristine!
Allen Ginsberg, the celebrated poet, loved synecdoche greatly. His poem, "A Supermarket in California," provides two examples, and comprehending these examples aids in our grasp of Ginsberg's themes. The narrator of the poem imagines following Walt Whitman, a poet from the nineteenth century, through a mid-century grocery store. In the meat department, he overhears Whitman asking the grocer, "Who killed the pork chops?" That is a synecdoche since the pig was slaughtered, not the pork chop, which is the disjointed portion that represents the whole.
Although the term "synecdoche" may seem scary and out-of-date, chances are that you already use it in your writing and everyday speech. Synecdoche is a very helpful literary device that you may use in your prose to assist your reader focus on key ideas and to give your writing more vivid images.
The story of Synecdoche
Synecdoche is a literary phrase that is derived from the Greek word "synekdoche" (which means "simultaneous meaning"). It is pronounced "si-nek-duh-kee". Synecdoche is currently defined in English as a literary device where a word for a minor aspect of anything can be used to represent the main idea or vice versa. The likelihood is that you frequently employ synecdoche in your daily life, despite the fact that it may sound perplexing.
Illustrations of Synecdoche being used in popular culture: Here’s 5
Synecdoche is a rhetorical device when a small portion of a word or item is used to represent the entire thing.
Art: The protagonist (Philip Seymour Hoffman) strives to create a small theatrical representation of the outside world to encapsulate the concept of synecdoche in the Charlie Kaufman-directed movie Synecdoche, New York (2008). The movie dissects the idea of synecdoche and how it's used in literature and everyday life.
Buildings: Although the White House as a physical entity is not involved in budget negotiations, you may say "The White House is working on a budget compromise" when discussing the executive branch of the US government.
Body parts: In the second verse of Emily Dickinson's poem "I heard a Fly buzz—when I died," Dickinson uses the phrase "The Eyes around—had wrung them dry" to depict the mourners gathered around the speaker's deathbed. She plays on the countless tears that have been shed while emphasising the voyeuristic character of the scene by referring to the mourners just as the eyes.
Locations: The King of Denmark is referred to as "Denmark" in Hamlet by William Shakespeare. He highlights the significance of the King as the personification of the entire nation state in this way. The stakes of the drama are raised because Hamlet must not only avenge the death of one man but also right a wrong committed against the entire country.
Sports teams: Although Los Angeles didn't actually obliterate New York City, you may say, "Los Angeles beat New York last night," in reference to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Synecdoche's 2 Forms
Although there are numerous varieties of synecdoche that each perform somewhat differently, they may all be broadly divided into two categories:
Macrocosm: When a smaller portion of a larger thing is referred to. When we speak to a team that represents Los Angeles by saying "Los Angeles beat New York last night," we are referring to the city of Los Angeles.
Microcosm: In this case, a small portion of something is used to symbolise a bigger whole. A little portion of an aged man's body is sometimes used to describe an entire group of men or a single man as the "grey beard" in figurative language.
