We explain what an oxymoron is and various examples. Also, what is the pleonasm and other literary figures.
The oxymoron creates a sense contrary to logic that stands out aesthetically.What is an oxymoron?
An oxymoron is a Literary figure which consists of the coexistence in the same expression of two terms semantically contrary, thus creating an absurd, counterintuitive sense, or sometimes contrary to the logic, which stands out aesthetically. It is widely used in the literary language, especially in the poetry, but that can also have a presence in the speaks everyday or popular.
Its name comes from the Greek voices oxys ("Stabbing" or "sharp") and moors ("Soft", "blunt"), which is an example of an oxymoron itself. It is about Hellenism (loan from Greek) that became fashionable during the 18th century. Its plural, little used in Spanish but in other languages, is oxymora.
The opposite of oxymoron is pleonasm.
Examples of oxymoron
Here are some possible examples of an oxymoron:
- "Black sun"
- "Eternal instant"
- "Luminous darkness"
- "Sad joy"
- "Frozen fire"
- "Dark light"
- "Blind sight"
- "Funny clumsiness"
- "Simple complexity"
- "Weak marble"
- "Creeping flight"
Pleonasm
The literary figure contrary to the oxymoron is the pleonasm. Its name comes from the Greek pléon, "A lot", and the suffix -asmos, "Abrupt" or "blow", and consists of the redundant construction of an expression, from two terms that mean the same thing.
Thus, the idea expressed is reinforced or underlined, despite the fact that only one of the terms would suffice to express it. For example:
- "To go outside"
- "Real facts"
- "Exact replicas"
- "Closed fist"
- "Wander aimlessly"
- "False wig"
- "Free gifts"
- "Interrelated with each other"
- "Reserve exclusively"
Other literary figures
Apart from the oxymoron and pleonasm, there are other literary figures of interest, such as:
- Etopeia. It consists of the moral description and / or of traditions of a character, allowing the reader to know its interiority.
- Antithesis. It is about the use of two opposite and complementary terms, as part of the same expression.
- Synecdoche. It is a form of metaphor that takes a part of the thing for the whole thing, or vice versa.
- Asyndeton. It consists of the elimination of conjunctions like the "and" in the middle of an enumeration, replacing them with a mere pause (usually the comma).
- Polysyndeton. On the contrary, in the previous case, it consists of the abundant use of conjunctions within the sentence, whether or not it is an enumeration, to impose a rhythm and a sequentiality to text.