Probably, every modern person has often heard, or even used, a term such as hyperbole.
Hyperbole in the literature is used, as a rule, to indicate a stylistic device of a particular exaggeration of the properties of the described phenomenon or object, thereby enhancing the impression made.
In this article, I invite my readers to go to the fascinating world of their native language. Having familiarized yourself with the information submitted here, you can get an answer to the following questions:
- What does the concept of hyperbole include in the literature?
- What is it used for?
- How often do we ourselves, without noticing it, apply this stylistic figure in speech ?
I decided to divide the article into three parts: first, to tell more about the etymology of the word itself, then we will talk about the history and causes of the concept itself, and finally, you will learn about the role of hyperbole in modern style.
Part 1. Etymology and the modern definition of the word
So, first of all, let's delve into history. From the point of view of etymology, the word of Greek origin “hyperbole” consists of two parts “hyper” and “bole”. The first is translated into Russian as “over”, “through” or “too”, while the second can be interpreted as “throwing”, “throwing”, “throwing”. From about the 18th century, the Latin word “hyperbole” appears and begins to be widely used in Latin.
There is an opposite term - litota. And if hyperbole in the literature implies "exaggeration", then litota, on the contrary, is used for deliberate understatement.
For example, phraseological units “sea of ​​smells”, “ocean of love”, “haven’t seen each other for a hundred years” can act as a hyperbola, but “from a thimble”, “at hand” can be a litol.
Part 2. Causes of the term
It is probably hard to imagine that the desire to overestimate both the value and the physical characteristics of an object originated in human thinking even at the time of the primitive communal system. Of course, the judgments of the first people on the planet were significantly different from the train of thought of the people of today. In those days, there was simply no clear line between fiction and real-life concepts. As you know, many centuries ago, hunters animated the world around them, leaders, animals, natural phenomena. They endowed them with supernatural abilities, for example, incredible size, magical power, excessive dexterity and a resourceful mind. Why? This process was simply inevitable, because was a consequence of the enormous dependence of primitive people on the forces of nature, a lack of understanding of its laws, inability to master everything that happens or the inability to explain for itself the causes of a particular event. As a result, fear arose, a sense of defenselessness, dependence, and as a result - imaginary gratitude, admiration, surprise and exaggeration.
Part 3. Hyperbole. Classical and modern literature
In order to give the work an artistic expression, the authors try to use various language means, the most common of which are considered to be metaphors, comparisons, epithets and hyperbolas. Currently, such a stylistic device as hyperbole is used based on the interaction of the emotional and logical meanings of the same word.
I will cite examples of hyperbole in the literature: “This has already been said a thousand times” (the number is exaggerated), “Enemies are crushed to smithereens” (quality), “He left, and the world ceased to exist for her” (emotions).
Sometimes it’s very difficult not to confuse a hyperbole with a comparison or metaphor, since they too often compare two subjects. Remember that hyperbole in literature always means exaggeration. Say, "The feet of his feet were huge, like skis." At first glance, this example resembles a comparison, but remembering how long the ski is actually, one can understand that this is an exaggeration, and therefore a hyperbole.
The author usually resorts to this stylistic device to enhance the impression or sharpen the image. Modern realities also require the use of hyperbole in order to enhance the effect of expressive speech, affect the imagination or attract attention.