浅谈英语修辞学Allusion Parody

Keyword Rhetoric Allusion Parody Definition Application

Classification

Language is a tool to express ideas, rhetoric is the art of language. The purpose of the use of rhetoric is to make the language more vivid, distinct and prominent;or make the language more neat and shapely, sonorous, strengthen language expressive and appealing, caused by the readers imagination and effect.There are two kinds of rhetorics I like most. They are Allusion and Parody. Next I will talk about them in details.

Ⅰ Allusion

Allusion is a foreign language which comes from Latin. It’s original meaning is to sport with.It is a useful device to add persuasiveness and forcefulness and infectivity to our writing or speaking. Allusion may range from the universal to the obscure and momentary. What is necessary is that they be recognized by the reader or audience. They are truly successful only when the reader or audience can share the knowledge. The wider the reader or audience ,the more universally know must be the thing alluded to. Greek mythology,Aesop's fables,and some other literary works are the rich treasure-house of allusion. Thus,the more one knows of the culture -----of history,of art,of science,of philosophy, of great men and women,of great books and poems and plays-----the more one will derive from current reading and listening.

(1) Definition

According to Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms:

Allusion is an indirect or passing reference to some event, person, place, or artistic work, the nature and relevance of which is not explained by the writer but relies on the reader’s familiarity with what is thus mentioned. According to Webster’s New Dictionary:

Allusion is an indirect reference; casual mention.

According to Webster’s Third New International Dictionary of the English Language:

Allusion is an implied indication or indirect reference.

According to American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: Allusion is an indirect reference that does not identify specifically.

(2) Classification

① Analysis from the historical sources

From myth or legend or fairy tails or fable:

Eg. Book is a vehicle of learning and enlightenment an open sesame to countless joys and sorrows.

In this example, open sesame comes from the fable Ali Baba and Forty Thieves of Arabian Nights ,which means the key to success.

From story of literature and folk customs: Eg. There new constitution was a fig leaf to conceal their betrayal of

the masses.

In this example, they quote the story from the Bible:After Adam

and Eve stole the forbidden fruit , they became very brilliant and they felt so ashamed that they were naked,so they used a fig leaf to masking the body.

From the novel and theater and allusion:

Eg. “You want your pound of flesh ,don’t you?”

In this example, pound of flesh comes from Shakespeare’s work

The Merchant of Venice.

From Historical figures and events:

Eg. The candidate met his Waterloo in the national elections.

In this example, Waterloo is a town’s name in Belgium where

Napoleon was defeated by the British and Prussian armies in 1815. It alludes to failure or defeat.

② From the relationship between the classification of the allusions and

social life Economic

Eg. “Our Band-Aid approach to economic development be

changed.”

This word comes from The New York Times,which means the

temporary emergency measures. Literature

Eg. “Nixon’s Odyssey to China”

Odyssey comes from Greek mythology which means long and

hard roaming and adventure. This word comes from Times which is used to describe Nixon 's visit to China. This shows the long process of the normalization of Sion-US relations.

Science and Technology:

When a science or technology develops to a new stage, there are

several new words which are a majority of the jargon of the professional strong. Some of them have extending meaning． Eg. Blow off steam：

Original meaning-----let go steam to reduce pressure Extending meaning ------vent pent-up feelings Chain reaction: Original meaning----- a series of reaction

Extending meaning ------in a series of consecutive events

Sports:

Eg. Behind the eight ball

It comes from the game of billiards. Eight ball is a black ball

which is ruled to be beat in the bag at last,during the process,everyone should not touch the ball,or you are punished. It used to show the disadvantage and setback.

Place name:

Eg. Shang li-la It comes from James Hilton’s work Lost Horizon which is a

fictional valley in the Himalayas, which means a ideal place to live in.

People’s name: Eg. Shylock

It comes from Shakespeare’s work The Merchant of Venice,who is

a semble of selfish man or ma-chant.

Albert Einstein

He is a great scientist who create Relativity. People use his name

to stead those brilliant man.

Ⅱ Parody Parody is the mimicking of a literary work or of the style of a

well-know artist. It is come from Greek parodia which means a song sung along side another or mock songs. It is original designed to ridicule. Now it can be used to produce any desired effect by its varied forms and its striking contrasts.

(1)Definition

According to Long man Modern English Dictionary(1976):

Parody is an imitation of the characteristic style of a writer, computer ect. Or a literary, artistic or musical work, designed to ridicule. According to Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current:

\"Writing intended to amuse by imitating the style of writing used by sb. else.\"

According to J.A.Cuddon's \"A Dictionary of Literary Terms\":

\"The imitative use of the words, styles, attitude, tone and ideas of an author in such a way as to make them ridiculous. This is usually achieved by exaggerating certain traits, using more or less the same technique as the cartoon caricature. In fact, a kind of satirical mimicry.\" According to Webster’s New world Dictionary:

It is a literary or musical work imitating the characteristic style of some other work or of a writer or composer in a satirical or humorous way,usually by applying it to an inappropriate subject. According to Encyclopedia Britannica:

Parody, in literary, is a form of satirical criticism or comic mockery that imitates the style and manner of a particular writer or school of writers so as to emphasize the weakness of the writer or the obsessed conventions of the school.

(2)Classification

By the changing of a word or phrase:

Eg. Art for Heart's Sake! -------By Rube Goldberg It is the imitating of the slogan Art for Art's Sake! Britannia Rues the waves ------By Andrew Neil It is a parody of the famous naval song in British Navy:\"Rule,Britannia,rules the waves!\"

By the changing of several words, keeping the original structure: Eg. To lie,or not to lie --------the doctor's dilemma.

It is the imitating of the word from Hamlet \"To be, or not to be : that's the question.\" You can take a child to Euclid, but you can not make him think. It is a parody of the English proverb You can take the horse to water, but you can't make him drink or You can take the boy out of the country, but you can not take the country out of the boy. By the changing of the sentence pattern or structure:

Eg. The race is to the swift, he said to himself over and over. Yes and the battle is to the strong.

It comes from the Bible The race is not the swift, nor the battle to the strong.

Now the gloves came off with biting sative. -------Noel Groves It comes from the idiom take the gloves off.

(3)Features

The feature of open and freedom:

Eg. I had no outlook, but an uplook rather. My place in society was at

the bottom.(J.London:What Life Means to Me)

In this example, outlook and uplook are used to

contrast,just reflect this feature.

The feature of humorous:

Eg. Better late than the late.( It is an advertisement of driving) In this example, late means not be on time; the late means the

person who dies. It is the parody of Better late than never.

The feature of ironic:

Eg. A friend in need is a friend to be avoided.(Lord Samuel)

In this example, the author use the parody of A friend in need

is a friend indeed to satire those who are selfish.

The feature of persuading:

Eg. He laughs best, who laughs last.( It is an advertisement of tire) In this example, the author use the parody of He laughs best

who laughs last to persuade people to buy his good.

The feature of association:

Eg. housewife ------househusband chairman ------chairwoman history -----herstory The feature of cheating:

Eg. Panosonic -----Panasonic SANY ------SONY

(4)Application

Application in advertisement:

Eg. ①Give me Green World, or give me Yesterday.(a kind of skin

care products)

It is the parody of Patric Henry’s words: I know not what

course others may take;but as for me, give me liberty or give me death. ②Go with the flow. Soft , swaying shapes, so right for

summer.(skirt)

Go with the flow comes from the novel’s name Gone with the Wind . Flow has the similarity meaning with the wind which reflect the feature of the skirt -------soft and elegant.

③A Mers a day helps you work,rest and play.(a kind of candy) It is a parody of a proverb An apple a day makes the doctor away.

④Quality breeds success.(Ford Motor Company’s advertising

in 1993)

It comes from the proverb Familiarity breeds contempt. ⑤Not all cars are created equal.(Mitsubishi Corporation of

Japan)

It comes from the words Not all that glitters is gold or

All men are created equal. Application in headline of news:

Eg. ①Lady Hermits Who Are Down But Not Out(news’ headline) Down and out comes from boxing. It says that whoever is beated down by the rival and couldn’t stand up at the deadline will be out.

② A Law by Any Other Name(one passage’s headline of The

New York Times)

It comes from a idiom A rose by any other name would smell as sweet. Application in our daily life:

Eg. Do you swear that you will pull the tooth, the whole

tooth,and nothing but the tooth?(from a patient to the dentist)

It is the parody of the court testimony Do you swear that you will tell the truth, the whole truth,and nothing but the truth? Application in literary works:

Eg. ①And where there are agents, can counteragents be far

behind?

It comes from the poem of Shelley’s Ode to the west

wind o, wind, if winter comes, can spring be far behind?

②In marring this girl he married a bit more than he could

chew.

It is the parody of the idiom to bit off more than one can chew.

The benefit of using rhetoric is more than my word to say. In

summary, we should use as much as possible to make our language more beautiful and do good to our culture .

参考文献：

英语修辞与翻译（English Rhetoric With Chinese） 英语修辞学概论