Digression

Digression

Digression (parekbasis in Greek, egressio, digressio and excursion in Latin) is a section of a composition or speech that is an intentional change of subject. In Classical rhetoric since Corax of Syracuse, especially in Institutio Oratoria of Quintilian, the digression was a regular part of any oration or composition. (An oratorical discourse should have five sections: prelude, narration, argumentation, digression and conclusion. But, the place of digression is not fixed, so it can come before or after argumentation). After setting out the topic of a work and establishing the need for attention to be given, the speaker or author would digress to a seemingly disconnected subject before returning to a development of the composition's theme, a proof of its validity, and a conclusion. This use of the digression is still noticeable in many sermons: after the topic, the speaker will introduce a "story" that seems to be unrelated, return to the subject, and then reveal how the story illustrates the speaker's point. A schizothemia is a digression by means of a long reminiscence. Cicero was a master of digression, particularly in his ability to shift from the specific question or issue at hand (the hypothesis) to the more general issue or question that it depended upon (the thesis). As was the case with most ancient orators, Cicero's apparent digression always turned out to bear directly upon the issue at hand. During the Second Sophist (in Imperial Rome), the ability to guide a speech away from a stated theme and then back again with grace and skill came to be a mark of true eloquence.

In literature, the digression (not to be confused with subplot) was a substantial part of satiric works of the 18th century. Works such as Jonathan Swift's A Tale of a Tub, Laurence Sterne's Tristram Shandy and Diderot's Jacques le fataliste et son maître made digressiveness itself a part of the satire. Sterne's novel, in particular, depended upon the digression, and he wrote, "Digressions, incontestably, are the sunshine; -- they are the life, the soul of reading; -- take them out of this book (Tristram Shandy) for instance, -- you might as well take the book along with them." This use of digression as satire later showed up in Thomas Carlyle's work. The digression was also used for non-satiric purposes in fiction. In Henry Fielding's The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, the author has numerous asides and digressive statements that are a side-fiction, and this sort of digression within chapters shows up later in the work of Charles Dickens, William Makepeace Thackeray, Herman Melville, Victor Hugo and others. The novels of Leo Tolstoy, J.D. Salinger, Marcel Proust, Henry Miller, Milan Kundera and Robert Musil are also full of digressions.

In late twentieth-century literature (in postmodern fiction), authors began to use digressions as a way of distancing the reader from the fiction and for creating a greater sense of play. John Fowles's The French Lieutenant's Woman and Lawrence Norfolk's Lemprière's Dictionary both employ digressions to offer scholarly background to the fiction, while others, like Gilbert Sorrentino in Mulligan Stew, use digression to prevent the functioning of the fiction's illusions.

  • Maurice Laugaa, 'le théâtre de la digression dans le discours classique' in Semiotica IV, 1971.
  • Randa Sabry, Stratégies discursives, Editions de E.H.E.S.S., Paris, 1992. (known as the best historical and theorical study on the digression in literature and rhetoric. Written in French but still unavailable in English)
  • Christine Montalbetti & Nathalie Piegay-Gros, la digression dans le récit, Bertrand-Lacoste, Paris, 1994. (summary book for students)
  • Pierre Bayard, Hors-sujet : Proust et la digression, Editions de Minuit, Paris, 1996.

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  • digression — [ digresjɔ̃ ] n. f. • 1190; lat. digressio, de digredi « s éloigner » 1 ♦ Développement oral ou écrit qui s écarte du sujet. Faire une digression sur, à propos de... ⇒ parenthèse. « Les digressions trop longues ou trop fréquentes rompent l unité… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • digression — digression, episode, excursus, divagation are comparable when they denote a departure from the main course of development, especially of a narrative, a drama, or an exposition. Digression applies to a deviation, especially if at the expense of… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • Digression — (Abweichung) wird in der Astronomie in verschiedenen Bedeutungen, einmal gleichbedeutend mit Elongation gebraucht und bezeichnet dann den Winkelabstand eines Planeten von der Sonne zu der Zeit, wenn derselbe östlich oder westlich am größten ist… …   Lexikon der gesamten Technik

  • digression — DIGRESSION. s. f. Ce qui est dans un discours hors du principal sujet. Digression ennuyeuse. Longue digression. Courte digression. Digression agréable. Faire une digression. Cet Auteur est plein de digressions inutiles …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie Française 1798

  • digression — DIGRESSION. s. f. Ce qui est hors du principal sujet dans un discours. Digression ennuyeuse. longue digression. courte digression. digression agreable. faire une digression. cet autheur est plein de digressions inutiles …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie française

  • Digression — (lat. digressio ‚Abweichung, Abschweifung‘) kann bedeuten: die Winkeldifferenz, die ein Gestirn auf seiner täglichen Sternbahn vom Meridian hat, siehe größte Digression ein kurzes Musikstück, siehe Digression (Musik) eine bewusste Abschweifung… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Digression — Di*gres sion, n. [L. digressio: cf. F. digression.] 1. The act of digressing or deviating, esp. from the main subject of a discourse; hence, a part of a discourse deviating from its main design or subject. [1913 Webster] The digressions I can not …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Digression — (lat.), Abschweifung; in der Astronomie soviel wie Ausweichung (s. Elongation), auch speziell Abweichung vom Meridian. Die Beobachtung der größten Digressionen eines Zirkumpolarsterns (seiner größten Abweichungen vom Meridian nach W. und O.)… …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Digression — (lat.), Abweichung, Abschweifung; bei Fixsternen, die nördl. vom Zenit kulminieren, der von ihrem Vertikalkreis mit der Nordhälfte des Meridians gebildete Winkel; auch s.v.w. Elongation (s.d.) …   Kleines Konversations-Lexikon

  • digression — I noun aberrancy, aberration, alteration, break, change, circuity, convolution, departure, detour, deviation, digressio, divagation, divarication, divergence, diversion, drift, excursus, misdirection, periphrasis, roundabout way, shift in topic,… …   Law dictionary

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