{{Short description|Reversal of grammatical structures in successive phrases}} {{About|the rhetoric feature|other uses}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2015}}
In rhetoric, '''chiasmus''' ({{IPAc-en|k|aɪ|ˈ|æ|z|m|ə|s}} {{Respell|ky|AZ|məs}}) or, less commonly,{{fact|date=April 2026}} '''chiasm''' (Latin term from Greek {{lang|el|χίασμα}} {{Transliteration|grc|chiásma}}, "crossing", from the Greek {{lang|grc|χιάζω}}, {{Transliteration|grc|chiázō}}, "to shape like the letter Χ"), is a "reversal of grammatical structures in successive phrases or clauses – but no repetition of words".<ref>Corbett and Connors, 1999. p. 58–59, 74</ref>
A similar device, antimetabole, also involves a reversal of grammatical structures in successive phrases or clauses in an A-B-B-A configuration, but unlike chiasmus, presents a repetition of words.<ref>Baldick, 2008. p. 17</ref>
==Examples== Chiasmus balances words or phrases with similar, though not identical, meanings:
{{poemquote| But O, what damned minutes tells he o'er Who dotes, yet doubts; suspects, yet strongly loves. |Shakespeare, ''Othello'' 3.3 }}
"Dotes" and "strongly loves" share the same meaning and bracket, as do "doubts" and "suspects".
Additional examples of chiasmus:
{{blockquote|By day the frolic, and the dance by night.|Samuel Johnson, ''The Vanity of Human Wishes'' (1749)<ref>Corbett and Connors, 1999. p. 63</ref>}}
{{blockquote|Despised, if ugly; if she's fair, betrayed.|Mary Leapor, "Essay on Woman" (1751)<ref>Baldick, 2008. p.52–53</ref>}}
For comparison, the following is considered antimetabole, in which the reversal in structure involves the same words:
{{blockquote|Pleasure's a sin, and sometimes sin's a pleasure.|Lord Byron, ''Don Juan'' (1824)<ref>Baldick, 2008. p.52</ref>}}
Both chiasmus and antimetabole can be used to reinforce antithesis.<ref>Corbett and Connors, 1999. p. 59.</ref> In chiasmus, the clauses display inverted parallelism. Chiasmus was particularly popular in the literature of the ancient world, including Hebrew, Greek, Latin and K'iche' Maya,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Christensen |first1=Allan |title=The Use of Chiasmus by the Ancient K'iche' Maya in Parallel Worlds: Genre, Discourse, and Poetics in Contemporary, Colonial, and Classic Maya Literature |date=2012 |publisher=University Press of Colorado |location=Boulder, Colorado |isbn=978-1607321798 |pages=311–338 |url=https://www.academia.edu/5867918 |access-date=7 September 2019}}</ref> where it was used to articulate the balance of order within the text. Many long and complex chiasmi have been found in Shakespeare<ref>{{Cite journal |last= Ramirez |first= Matthew Eric |title= Descanting on Deformity: The Irregularities in Shakespeare's Large Chiasms |journal= Text and Performance Quarterly |volume= 31 |issue= 1 |pages= 37–49 |date= January 2011 |doi= 10.1080/10462937.2010.526240 |s2cid= 170466856 }}</ref> and the Greek and Hebrew texts of the Bible.<ref>{{cite book |last= Breck |first= John |title= The Shape of Biblical Language: Chiasmus in the Scriptures and Beyond |publisher= St. Vladimir's Seminary Press |year= 1994 |location= Crestwood, N.Y. |oclc= 30893460 |isbn= 978-0-8814-1139-3}}</ref> Chiasmus is also found throughout the Quran<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ahmadi |first1=Mohamadnabi |title=Semantic and Rhetorical Aspects of Chiasmus in the Holy Quran |url=https://lasem.semnan.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-317-3&slc_lang=ar&sid=fa |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210917044544/https://lasem.semnan.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-317-3&slc_lang=ar&sid=fa |archive-date=September 17, 2021 |access-date=27 November 2015}}</ref> and the Book of Mormon.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Givens |first1=Teryl |title=By the Hand of Mormon: The American Scripture that Launched a New World Religion |date=2002 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York, New York |isbn=978-0195168884 |pages=133–134 }}</ref>
== Conceptual chiasmus == Chiasmus can be used in the structure of entire passages to parallel concepts or ideas. This process, termed "conceptual chiasmus", uses a criss-crossing rhetorical structure to cause an overlapping of "intellectual space".<ref name="Ceccarelli 2001 5">{{cite book |last= Ceccarelli |first= Leah |year= 2001 |title= Shaping Science with Rhetoric: The Cases of Dobzhansky, Schrödinger, and Wilson |location= Chicago, Illinois |publisher= University of Chicago Press |isbn= 0226099067 |oclc= 45276826 |page= 5}}</ref> Conceptual chiasmus utilizes specific linguistic choices, often metaphors, to create a connection between two differing disciplines.<ref name="Ceccarelli 2001 5"/> By employing a chiastic structure to a single presented concept, rhetors encourage one area of thought to consider an opposing area's perspective.
== Effectiveness== thumb|upright|Chiasmus represented as an "X" structure. When read left to right, top to bottom, the first topic (A) is reiterated as the last, and the middle concept (B) appears twice in succession. Chiasmus derives its effectiveness from its symmetrical structure. The structural symmetry of the chiasmus imposes the impression upon the reader or listener that the entire argument has been accounted for.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lissner |first1=Patricia |url=https://drum.lib.umd.edu/bitstream/1903/7687/1/umi-umd-4962.pdf |title=Chi-thinking: Chiasmus and Cognition |date=2007 |publisher=University of Maryland |page=217 |access-date=November 5, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240818021156/https://api.drum.lib.umd.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/325014bf-a0de-48c9-98a3-a719eda3e1f9/content |archive-date=2024-08-18 |url-status=live}}</ref> In other words, chiasmus creates only two sides of an argument or idea for the listener to consider, and then leads the listener to favor one side of the argument.
==Thematic chiasmus== The ''Wilhelmus'', the national anthem of the Netherlands, has a structure composed around a thematic chiasmus: the 15 stanzas of the text are symmetrical, in that verses one and 15 resemble one another in meaning, as do verses two and 14, three and 13, etc., until they converge in the eighth verse, the heart of the song.
Written in the 16th century, the ''Wilhelmus'' originated in the nation's struggle to achieve independence. It tells of the Father of the Nation, William of Orange, who was stadholder in the Netherlands under the king of Spain. In the first person, as if quoting himself, William speaks to the Dutch people and talks about both the outer conflict – the Dutch Revolt – as well as his own, inner struggle: on one hand, he tries to be faithful to the king of Spain,<ref>[http://cf.hum.uva.nl/dsp/ljc/geuzenliedboek/ CF.hum.uva.nl]</ref> on the other hand, he is above all faithful to his conscience: to serve God and the Dutch people. This is made apparent in the central 8th stanza: "Oh David, thou soughtest shelter from King Saul's tyranny. Even so I fled this welter". Here the comparison is made between the biblical David and William of Orange as merciful and just leaders who both serve under tyrannic kings. As the merciful David succeeds the unjust Saul and is rewarded by God with the kingdom of Israel, so too, with the help of God, will William be rewarded a kingdom; being either or both the Netherlands, and the kingdom of God.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eqPvAwAAQBAJ|title=The Reformed David(s) and the Question of Resistance to Tyranny: Reading the Bible in the 16th and 17th Centuries|last=DeLapp|first=Nevada Levi|date=2014-08-28|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=9780567655493|pages=87–89|language=en}}</ref>
== See also == {{div col|colwidth=30em}} * Antanaclasis * Antimetabole * Arch form * Chiastic structure * Contrapposto * Figure of speech * Golden line (a Latin poetic line based on an '''abAB''' structure) * Palindrome * Rhetoric * Russian reversal * Silver line (a Latin poetic line based on an '''abBA''' structure) * Spoonerism * Synchysis (the reverse of the chiasmus) * The Throne Verse * Transpositional pun {{div col end}}
== References == {{Reflist}}
== Sources == * Baldrick, Chris. 2008. ''Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms''. Oxford University Press. New York. {{ISBN|978-0-19-920827-2}} * Corbett, Edward P. J. and Connors, Robert J. 1999. ''Style and Statement''. Oxford University Press. New York, Oxford. {{ISBN|0-19-511543-0}} * Forsyth, Mark. 2014. ''The Elements of Eloquence''. Berkley Publishing Group/Penguin Publishing. New York. {{ISBN|978-0-425-27618-1}} * {{cite book |last= Lund |first= Nils Wilhelm |year= 1942 |title= Chiasmus in the New Testament, a study in formgeschichte |place= Chapel Hill |publisher= University of North Carolina Press |oclc= 2516087 }} * {{cite journal |last=McCoy |first=Brad |date=Fall 2003 |title=Chiasmus: An Important Structural Device Commonly Found in Biblical Literature |url=https://chafer.nextmeta.com/files/v9n2_2chiasmus.pdf |journal=CTS Journal |location=Albuquerque, New Mexico |publisher=Chafer Theological Seminary |volume=9 |issue=2 |pages=18–34 |access-date=June 18, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240229191733/https://chafer.nextmeta.com/files/v9n2_2chiasmus.pdf |archive-date=February 29, 2024 |url-status=dead}} * {{cite book |last=Parry |first=Donald W. |author-link=Donald W. Parry |year=2007 |title=Poetic Parallelisms in the Book of Mormon |url=https://publications.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/bookchapters/Poetic_Parallelisms_in_the_Book_of_Mormon_The_Complete_Text_/Poetic%20Parallelisms%20in%20the%20Book%20of%20Mormon.pdf |place=Provo, Utah |publisher=Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship |isbn=978-0-934893-36-7 |access-date=June 18, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220316005441/https://publications.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/bookchapters/Poetic_Parallelisms_in_the_Book_of_Mormon_The_Complete_Text_/Poetic%20Parallelisms%20in%20the%20Book%20of%20Mormon.pdf |archive-date=March 16, 2022 |url-status=dead}} * {{cite book |last= Smyth |first= Herbert Weir |author-link= Herbert Weir Smyth |year= 1920 |title= A Greek Grammar for Colleges |place= New York |publisher= American Book Company |oclc= 402001 |page= [https://archive.org/stream/agreekgrammarfo02smytgoog#page/n696/mode/2up 677] }} * {{cite journal |last= Welch |first= John W. |author-link= John W. Welch |year= 1995 |title= Criteria for Identifying and Evaluating the Presence of Chiasmus |url= http://publications.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=1389&index=1 |journal= Journal of Book of Mormon Studies |volume= 4 |issue= 2 |publisher= Brigham Young University |access-date= June 18, 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20151013211432/http://publications.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=1389&index=1 |archive-date= October 13, 2015 |url-status= dead }} * {{cite book |last= Welch |first= John W. |author-link= John W. Welch |year= 1999 |orig-year= 1981 |title= Chiasmus in antiquity: structures, analyses, exegesis |place= Provo, Utah |publisher= Research Press |isbn= 0934893330 |oclc= 40126818 }}
== External links == {{wiktionary}} * [https://rhetoric.byu.edu/Figures/C/chiasmus.htm Chiasmus], Rhetorical Figures, by Gideon O. Burton (professor of rhetoric and composition, BYU), at humanities.byu.edu/rhetoric * [https://www.literarydevices.com/chiasmus/ Chiasmus] Explained at LiteraryDevices
{{Figures of speech}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Figures of speech