A anaphorais a figure of speech used to resume something already said. Generally, she uses pronouns or synonyms to avoid excessive repetition. Its “opposite” is cataphora, which refers to something that has yet to be said. Anaphora is very present in literary and non-literary texts, and understanding how it works is very important for the interpretation of any speech.
Read too: Hyperbole — the figure of speech used when there is exaggeration in some expression to emphasize some characteristic
Summary about anaphora
- An anaphora is a figure of speech used to refer to something already said.
- Specifically, it is a syntax (or construction) figure.
- Avoid excessive repetitions.
- You can make an explicit reference, use pronouns or synonyms.
- Cataphora, its opposite, refers to something that has yet to be said.
What is anaphora?
The anaphora is a figure of speech used to refer to something already said, as a term, a sentence or a thought expressed in the text. It categorizes a resumption. Thus, it serves to avoid complete repetitions, as the reader already knows what the author is referring to. As it is a figure of speech that affects the structuring of the statement,
specifically is a syntax (or construction) figure.- Examples:
Rose lives in the Assunção neighborhood. She walks every day with your friend, Clara. The companion to calls her “honey”.
In this example, we have many occurrences of anaphora: “She”, “hers” and “her” refer to Rose, while “A companion” refers to “Clara”.
The First World War occurred in the 20th century and the conflict lasted four years.
In this case, the anaphora occurred in the same period, and “the conflict” references “The First World War”.
How to use anaphora?
Anaphora can be used in different ways. She can make an explicit reference to the terms used, repeating some part of them, using synonyms in their place or replacing them with pronouns. Anaphora should be used when the author of a text does not want to repeat the same term many times, as it can become tiring to read.
→ Examples of uses of anaphora
◦ Excerpt from the book Comedies to read at school, by Luis Fernando Verissimo
The man wakes up from anesthesia and looks around. He's still in the recovery room. There is a nurse your side. He She asks if everything went well.
— Everything is perfect — says the nurse, smiling.
— I I was scared of this operation…
- Why? There was no risk at all.
— With me, there is always risk. My life has been a series of mistakes…
And he says that the mistakes started with your birth. There was an exchange of babies in the nursery and he He was raised until he was ten years old by an oriental couple, who never understood the fact that they had a fair-skinned son with round eyes. Once the error is discovered, he out to live with your real parents. Or with your true mother, because her father had abandoned the woman after it iscould not explain the birth of a chinese baby.|1|
In this excerpt, we have a significant occurrence of anaphora. The highlighted terms show a recurrence of references to “man”, in addition to the use of anaphora about his biological mother at the end.
◦ Excerpt from the novel Dom Casmurro, by Machado de Assis
The other night, coming from the city to Engenho Novo, I found on the Central train a boy from the neighborhood, which I know by sight and by hat. (...) and it's over reciting verses to me. The trip was short, and the verses Maybe they weren't entirely bad. It happened, however, that, as I was tired, I closed my eyes three or four times; so much was enough for he stopped reading and put the verses in the pocket.|2|
In this case, “ele” is an anaphoric pronoun that takes up “a boy”, and “the verses” are repeatedly taken up again.
◦ Excerpt from the book Boy with pen and ink, by Clarice Lispector
Like never knowing the boy? (...) What I know from him and the your situation: the boy é that onein whom the first teeth have just come in and it's the same who will be a doctor or a carpenter. Meanwhile — there it is he sitting on the floor (...).|3|
In this excerpt, many anaphoras are used to refer to the “boy”.
What are the differences between anaphora and cataphor?
Anaphora and cataphora are two figures of speech that form antitaxis. Antitax is a property that says that an element can be resumed or anticipated within a text:
- Anaphora: figure of speech used to refer to something already said.
- Cataphora: figure of speech used to refer to something that has yet to be said.
Other figures of speech
Figures of speech are ways of expression that, in some way, manipulate language in a different way than is traditional. As subdivisions, there are word, thought, syntax and sound figures of speech. Anaphora and cataphora are part of the group of syntax figures.
Some examples of figures of speech are:
-
Metaphor: superimpose two meanings, place them on the same level.
- Example: My friend is a sun in my life.
-
Personification: give human characteristics to something non-human.
- Example: I couldn't open the jar, he was laughing of my face.
-
Metonymy: replace two terms that are related to each other.
- Example: Who reads Machado de Assis, soon falls in love with literature. (We read the book, not Machado de Assis.)
-
Antithesis: use of opposite terms.
- Example: They are like fire and water, but they understand each other.
See too: Onomatopoeia — the figure of speech used to represent a sound or noise in written form
Solved exercises on anaphora
Question 1
Read the excerpt below from the Flip (Paraty International Literary Festival) announcement and answer the question.
For 20 years, Flip has been a unique experience: the meetings held over the five days of the Festival are just part of a much broader cultural event. They are, in fact, the result of a relationship that crosses the streets of the city of Paraty, during every month of the year, promoting a profound transformation in the lives and perspectives of its citizens.|4|
Available in: https://www.flip.org.br/
What is the anaphoric reference of “Party”?
A) “20 years”
B) “the Flip”
C) “unique”
D) “cultural manifestation”
Resolution:
Alternative B
“the Party” refers to Flip in an anaphoric way, that is, it exchanges the acronym mentioned previously for another term that carries the same meaning.
Question 2
(Uece)
Love measuring tape
How do you measure a person? The sizes vary according to the degree of involvement. She is huge for you when she talks about what she read and experienced, when she treats you with affection and respect, when she looks you in the eyes and smiles openly. You are small when you only think about yourself, when you behave in an unkind way, when fails precisely at the moment when it would have to demonstrate what is most important between two people: the friendship.
A person is giant to you when they are interested in your life, when they look for alternatives for your growth, when they dream together. It is small when deviates from the subject.
A person is great when they forgive, when they understand, when they put themselves in someone else's shoes, when they act not according to what is expected of them, but according to what they expect from themselves. A person is small when they allow themselves to be governed by cliché behaviors.
The same person can appear great or small within a relationship, can grow or decrease in a space of a few weeks: is it that she has changed or is it that love is treacherous in its measurements? Disappointment can diminish the size of a love that seemed great. An absence can increase the size of a love that seemed small.
It's difficult to live with this elasticity: people grow larger and smaller before our eyes. Our judgment is made not through centimeters and meters, but through actions and reactions, expectations and frustrations. A person is unique when they extend their hand, and when they unexpectedly withdraw it, they become one more. Selfishness unifies the insignificant.
It is not height, nor weight, nor muscles that make a person great. It's your immeasurable sensitivity.
MEDEIROS, Martha. Non-stop: chronicles of everyday life. Rio de Janeiro: L&PM Editores. 2001.
As a figure of speech, anaphora is characterized by the repetition of one or more words at the beginning of verses, sentences or periods. In the chronicle, the author resorts to anaphora, in the first three paragraphs of the text, by repeating the conjunction “when”, with the aim of
A) expand the expressiveness of the message content, emphasizing the meaning of the consecutively repeated term.
B) use anaphora as an essential stylistic resource for any literary text.
C) respect the characteristics of the chronicle, since anaphora is a linguistic resource specific to this type of textual genre.
D) reference previously mentioned information.
Resolution:
Alternative A
The anaphoric repetition of “when” reinforces the variation of love and the loved one depending on attitudes.
Grades
|1| VERISSIMO, L. F. Comedies to read at school. Lisbon: Objetiva, 2001.
|2| ASSIS, M. Dom Casmurro. [s.l.] Google, Inc., 2013.
|3| LISPECTOR, C. Tale: “Boy with pen and ink” | Clarice Lispector – Institute of Psychology – USP. Available in: https://www.ip.usp.br/site/noticia/conto-qmenino-a-bico-de-penaq-clarice-lispector-18101969/.
|4| FLIP. Flip - Paraty International Literary Festival. Available in: https://www.flip.org.br/.
Sources
ASSIS, M. Dom Casmurro. [s.l.] Google, Inc., 2013.
BECHARA, E. Modern Portuguese Grammar. 37. ed. Rio de Janeiro: New Frontier, 2009.
FLIP. Flip - Paraty International Literary Festival. Available in: https://www.flip.org.br/.
ILARI, R. Some problems in the study of textual anaphora. Letters Magazine, n. 56, p. 195–215, 2001. Available in: https://revistas.ufpr.br/letras/article/view/18414.
LISPECTOR, C. Short story: “Boy in pen and ink” | Clarice Lispector – Institute of Psychology – USP. Available in: https://www.ip.usp.br/site/noticia/conto-qmenino-a-bico-de-penaq-clarice-lispector-18101969/.
ROCHA LIMA. Normative grammar of the Portuguese language: revised edition according to the new Orthographic Agreement. 49. ed. Rio De Janeiro: José Olympio Editora, 2011.
VERISSIMO, L. F. Comedies to Read at School. Lisbon: Objetiva, 2001.
