Prosopopoeia

Prosopopoeia

A prosopopoeia ( _el. προσωποποιία) is a rhetorical device in which a speaker or writer communicates to the audience by speaking as another person or object. The term literally derives from the Greek roots meaning "a face, a person, to make".

Prosopopoeiae are used mostly to give another perspective on the action being described. For example, in Cicero's Pro Caelio, Cicero speaks as Appius Claudius Caecus, a stern old man. This serves to give the "ancient" perspective on the actions of the plaintiff. Prosopopoeiae can also be used to take some of the load off of the communicator by placing an unfavorable point of view on the shoulders of an imaginary stereotype. The audience's reactions are predisposed to go towards this figment rather than the communicator himself.

This term also refers to a figure of speech in which an animal or inanimate object is ascribed human characteristics or is spoken of in anthropomorphic language. Quintilian writes of the power of this figure of speech to "bring down the gods from heaven, evoke the dead, and give voices to cities and states" ("Institutes of Oratory" [see ref.] ).

Examples:
*"If Miller Huggins was alive today, he'd be turning over in his grave". —Yogi Berra, speaking of a former Yankees manager.

*Often a prosecutor will suggest to jurors that a homicide victim is "speaking to us through the evidence". Before becoming a Senator, John Edwards was reputed to have made such an argument in one of his most famous tort cases, representing the family of a girl who had been killed by a defective pool drain.

*"Th' expense of spirit in a waste of shame
Is lust in action; and, till action, lust
Is perjured, murd'rous, bloody, full of blame,
Savage, extreme, rude, cruel, not to trust;
Enjoyed no sooner but despised straight;
Past reason hunted, and no sooner had,
Past reason hated, as a swallowed bait." -- William Shakespeare, Sonnet 129

Other Uses:
*Prosopopeia is the name of series of reality-games, primarily in Stockholm, Sweden. See references. *

ee also

*Personification

References

* [http://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=906 Literary Encyclopedia page on Prosopopoeia]
* [http://www.prosopopeia.se The Project website (Reality Game)]
* [http://honeyl.public.iastate.edu/quintilian/9/chapter2.html#58 Quintilian's Institutes of Oratory, Bk. IX Ch. II]


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  • Prosopopoeia — Pros o*po*p[oe] ia, n. [L., fr. Gr. ?; pro swpon a face, a person + ? to make.] (Rhet.) A figure by which things are represented as persons, or by which things inanimate are spoken of as animated beings; also, a figure by which an absent person… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • prosopopoeia — [prō sō΄pō pē′ə] n. [L < Gr prosōpopoiia < prosōpon, person, face, mask (< pros, near + ōps, EYE) + poiein, to make: see POET2] Rhetoric 1. a figure in which an absent, dead, or imaginary person is represented as speaking 2.… …   English World dictionary

  • prosopopoeia — prosopopoeial, adj. /proh soh peuh pee euh/, n. Rhet. 1. personification, as of inanimate things. 2. a figure of speech in which an imaginary, absent, or deceased person is represented as speaking or acting. Also, prosopopeia. [1555 65; < L… …   Universalium

  • prosopopoeia — noun a) Personifying a person or object when to an . Of the prosopopoeia, or personification, there are two kinds; one, when actions and character are attributed to irrational, or even inanimate objects; the other, when a probable but fictitious… …   Wiktionary

  • prosopopoeia — pro•so•po•poe•ia [[t]proʊˌsoʊ pəˈpi ə[/t]] n. pl. poe•ias 1) rht personification, as of inanimate things 2) rht a figure of speech in which an imaginary, absent, or deceased person is represented as speaking or acting • Etymology: 1555–65; < L …   From formal English to slang

  • prosopopoeia — /prɒsəpəˈpiə/ (say prosuhpuh peeuh) noun Rhetoric 1. personification, as of inanimate things. 2. representation of an imaginary or absent person as speaking or acting. Also, prosopopeia. {Latin prosōpopoeia, from Greek prosōpopoiia} …  

  • prosopopoeia — noun Etymology: Latin, from Greek prosōpopoiia, from prosōpon mask, person (from pros + ōps face) + poiein to make more at eye, poet Date: circa 1555 1. a figure of speech in which an imaginary or absent person is represented as speaking or… …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • prosopopoeia — (Roget s Thesaurus II) noun See prosopopeia …   English dictionary for students

  • prosopopoeia — [ˌprɒsəpə pi:ə] noun a figure of speech in which an abstract thing is personified or an imagined or absent person is represented as speaking. Origin C16: via L. from Gk prosōpopoiia, from prosōpon person + poiein to make …   English new terms dictionary

  • prosopopoeia — n. (Rhet.) Personification …   New dictionary of synonyms

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