Dictionary:
par·a·tax·is (păr'ə-tăk'sĭs)  |
[Greek, a placing side by side, from paratassein, to arrange side by side : para-, beside; see para-1 + tassein, tag-, to arrange.]
paratactic par'a·tac'tic (-tăk'tĭk) or par'a·tac'ti·cal (-tĭ-kəl) adj.| Wordsmith Words: parataxis |
(par-uh-TAK-sis)
noun
The juxtaposition of clauses or phrases without the use of coordinating or subordinating conjunctions, as It was cold; the snows came.
Etymology
Greek, a placing side by side, from paratassein, to arrange side by side : para-, beside + tassein, to arrange.
| Literary Dictionary: paratactic |
paratactic, marked by the juxtaposition of clauses or sentences, without the use of connecting words: I'll go; you stay here. A paratactic style has the effect of abruptness, because the relationship between one statement and the next is not made explicit. This passage from H. D. Thoreau's Walden (1854) displays parataxis in the lack of obvious connection between sentences:
I think that we may safely trust a good deal more than we do. We may waive just so much care of ourselves as we honestly bestow elsewhere. Nature is as well adapted to our weakness as our strength. The incessant anxiety and strain of some is a well nigh incurable form of disease.The opposite, explicitly connected style is called hypotactic. See also asyndeton, polysyndeton.
| Philosophy Dictionary: paratactic |
In grammar, a paratactic construction is one in which elements of equal status are linked by pronunciation, or juxtaposition and punctuation. It contrasts with a hypotactic construction, where one element is signalled as subordinate to another. The paratactic theory of indirect speech, proposed by Davidson, suggests that the construction ‘Gorgias said that nothing exists’ is to be thought of as equivalent to two utterances: one of ‘nothing exists’, and another of ‘Gorgias samesaid that’, where samesaying means that Gorgias said something equivalent, and ‘that’ picks out the previous utterance. This last feature proves controversial, especially in connection with repeated contexts. Suppose I say truly ‘Aristotle said that Gorgias said that nothing exists’, then I cannot be presenting Aristotle as saying something about Gorgias's relation to my own utterance of ‘nothing exists’, occurring at the end of my remark, since that utterance lies beyond Aristotle's ken and he cannot have been commenting on Gorgias's relation to it. Grammatically an analysis in which this problem is met by having the demonstrative pick out an abstract object, such as a proposition or statement, would still be paratactic.
| Wikipedia: Parataxis |
Parataxis (from Greek for 'act of placing side by side'; fr. para, beside + tassein, to arrange; contrasted to syntaxis) is a literary technique, in writing or speaking, that favors short, simple sentences, without the use of coordinating or subordinating conjunctions. It can be contrasted with hypotaxis.
It is also used to describe a technique in poetry in which two images or fragments, usually starkly dissimilar images or fragments, are juxtaposed without a clear connection. Readers are then left to make their own connections implied by the paratactic syntax. Ezra Pound, in his adaptation of Chinese and Japanese poetry, made the stark juxtaposition of images an important part of English language poetry.
Perhaps the most well known use of parataxis is Julius Caesar's famous quote, "Veni, vidi, vici," or, "I came, I saw, I conquered".
An extreme example of parataxis is the immortal Mr. Jingle's speech in Chapter 2 of The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens.
'Come along, then,' said he of the green coat, lugging Mr. Pickwick after him by main force, and talking the whole way. 'Here, No. 924, take your fare, and take yourself off—respectable gentleman—know him well—none of your nonsense—this way, sir—where's your friends?—all a mistake, I see—never mind—accidents will happen—best regulated families—never say die—down upon your luck—Pull him UP—Put that in his pipe—like the flavour—damned rascals.' And with a lengthened string of similar broken sentences, delivered with extraordinary volubility, the stranger led the way to the traveller's waiting-room, whither he was closely followed by Mr. Pickwick and his disciples.
Perhaps an even more extreme proponent of the form was Samuel Beckett. The opening to his monologue "Not I" is a classic example:
" . out . . . into this world . . . this world . . . tiny little thing . . . before its time . . . in a godfor– . . . what? . . girl? . . yes . . . tiny little girl . . . into this . . . out into this . . . before her time . . . godforsaken hole called . . . called . . . no matter . . . parents unknown . . . unheard of . . . he having vanished . . . thin air . . . no sooner buttoned up his breeches . . . she similarly . . . eight months later . . . almost to the tick . . . so no love . . . spared that . . . no love such as normally vented on the . . . speechless infant . . . in the home . . . no . . . nor indeed for that matter any of any kind . . . no love of any kind . . . at any subsequent stage" and so on.
Although the use of ellipses here arguably prevents it from being seen as a classic example of parataxis, as a spoken text it operates in precisely that way. Other examples by Beckett would include large chunks of Lucky's famous speech in Waiting for Godot.
The term parataxis has also been appropriated by some cultural theorists to describe certain works of art or "cultural texts" in which a series of scenes or elements are presented side by side in no particular order or hierarchy. Examples might range from the collages of the dadaists and Robert Rauschenberg to many contemporary music videos.
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| Translations: Parataxis |
Dansk (Danish)
n. - paratakse, sideordning
Français (French)
n. - parataxe
Deutsch (German)
n. - Parataxe, Nebenordnung
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (γραμμ.) παράταξη
Português (Portuguese)
n. - parataxe (f) (Gram.)
Español (Spanish)
n. - parataxis
Svenska (Swedish)
n. - paratax (gramm.)
中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
并列
中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 並列
한국어 (Korean)
n. - 병렬 (접속사 없이 절,구 따위를 나란히 늘어놓기)
العربيه (Arabic)
(الاسم) تعقيب, إستئناف, استدراك
עברית (Hebrew)
n. - איחוי - צירוף מלים או פסוקיות ללא מילות שעבוד
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| Parataxis (disambiguation) |
Copyrights:
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 | Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Wordsmith Words. © 2009 Wordsmith.org. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Literary Dictionary. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms. Copyright © Chris Baldick 2001, 2004. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Philosophy Dictionary. The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy. Copyright © 1994, 1996, 2005 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Parataxis". Read more |
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| Translations. Copyright © 2007, WizCom Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved. Read more |
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