Juxtaposition
Juxtaposition is an act or instance of placing two elements close together or side by side. This is often done in order to compare/contrast the two, to show similarities or differences, etc.
Juxtaposition in literary terms is the showing contrast by concepts placed side by side. An example of juxtaposition are the quotes "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country", and "Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate", both by John F. Kennedy, who particularly liked juxtaposition as a rhetorical device.[1] Jean Piaget specifically contrasts juxtaposition in various fields from syncretism, arguing that "juxtaposition and syncretism are in antithesis, syncretism being the predominance of the whole over the details, juxtaposition that of the details over the whole".[2] Piaget writes:
In visual perception, juxtaposition is the absence of relations between details; syncretism is a vision of the whole which creates a vague but all-inclusive schema, supplanting the details. In verbal intelligence juxtaposition is the absence of relations between the various terms of a sentence; syncretism is the all-round understanding which makes the sentence into a whole. In logic juxtaposition leads to an absence of implication and reciprocal justification between the successive judgments; syncretism creates a tendency to bind everything together and to justify by means of the most ingenious or the most facetious devices.[2]
Throughout the arts, juxtaposition of elements is used to elicit a response within the audience's mind, such as creating meaning from the contrast. In music, it is an abrupt change of elements, and is a procedure of musical contrast. In film, the position of shots next to one another (montage) is intended to have this effect. In painting and photography, the juxtaposition of colours, shapes, etc, is used to create contrast, while the position of particular kinds of objects one upon the other or different kinds of characters in proximity to one another is intended to evoke meaning.[3] Various forms of juxtaposition occur in literature, where two images that are otherwise not commonly brought together appear side by side or structurally close together, thereby forcing the reader to stop and reconsider the meaning of the text through the contrasting images, ideas, motifs, etc. For example, "He was slouched gracefully" is a juxtaposition. More broadly, an author can juxtapose contrasting types of characters, such as a hero and a rogue working together to achieve a common objective from very different motivations.[3]
In mathematics, juxtaposition of symbols is the adjacency of factors with the absence of an explicit operator in an expression, especially for commonly used for multiplication: ax denotes the product of a with x, or a times x. It is also used for scalar multiplication, matrix multiplication, and function composition. In numeral systems, juxtaposition of digits has a specific meaning. In geometry, juxtaposition of names of points represents lines or line segments. In physics, juxtaposition is also used for "multiplication" of a numerical value and a physical quantity, and of two physical quantities, for example, three times π would be written as 3π and area equals length times width as A = lw.
References
- ^ Lucas, Stephen (2015). The Art of Public Speaking. Boston: McGraw-Hill Education. p. 232. ISBN 9781259095672. OCLC 953518704.
- ^ a b Piaget, Jean (2002) [orig. pub. 1928]. "Grammar and Logic". Judgement and Reasoning in the Child. International Library of Psychology, Developmental Psychology. Vol. Vol. 23. London: Routledge. p. 59. ISBN 0415-21003-8. OCLC 559388585 – via Google Books.
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has extra text (help) - ^ a b Young, James O. (2003). Art and Knowledge. p. 84.[full citation needed]
See also
External links
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