Aphorism is a saying that happened a long time ago. The science that studies it is called aphorism. She poses an important question: “When did he appear in literature? Is this concept known for a long time or appeared recently? ” In order to give a concrete answer to this question, it is necessary to study history. However, here you need to be careful and consider two aspects: aphorism as a genre and as a word.
The emergence of aphorism as words
This concept has been known for a very long time. Back in the 5th century BC e. Hippocrates, an ancient Greek scholar, called the treatise on medicine aphorisms. He informed about the diagnoses and symptoms of certain diseases, as well as how to prevent them and to recover from them. Today, many people know such aphorisms: “Life is a short period, and art is eternal”, “Do not do evil - you will not be in eternal fear”, etc. Ancient literature can also tell about the use of this concept. German scientists P. Rekvadt, F. Schalk proved that this word had not only medical meaning, but was also used as a wise saying, gnome, maxim, and also as a concise and short style.
The introduction of the concept in various sciences
In the 8th century, Dante claimed that “aphorism” is a medical term. Over time, it began to spread in other industries. He began to appear in the natural sciences, politics, philosophy, jurisprudence. Tacitus predetermined the transition of aphorism from medicine to the political industry. Then he likened the human body to the state, which required treatment with moral means and drugs. Antonio Perez believed that aphorism is his political statements about morality. Many researchers believe that they have a literary and artistic form.
Introduction to Russian literature
Only in the 18th century did such a concept appear in Russia. The meaning of the word “aphorism” was interpreted from the point of view of medicine and literature. The beginning of the 19th century was marked by the appearance of books, which began to be called aphorisms. So, C. Smithten published a collection called "Aphorisms, or Selected Thoughts of Different Writers ...". Then books with such statements began to appear, and later this term became especially popular. A lot of collections appeared that contained expressions of various authors. After the interest subsided a bit, and at the end of the 20th century books appeared that were called “aphorisms”. Today, this term is considered only in literary meaning.
History of aphorism as a genre
The story of aphorism as a genre is considered much more controversial and more complicated, but at the same time more important than the previous topic. No one can definitely answer the question of what the word aphorism means as a genre. In Germany, they believe that it arose only in modern literature and has nothing to do with the genre. However, other scholars argue that aphorism is a saying. That is why it is necessary to consider his story from the point of view of utterance. Modern literature believes that dictum and aphorism are one and the same. Today, these concepts are firmly associated with the names of ancient thinkers. Antique and modern sayings are called aphorisms. They are no different from each other and have identical features in terms of the genre: brevity, imagery, wisdom, a certain author and semantic completeness. All this testifies to their belonging to one genre. In other words, aphorisms are modern sayings, and sayings are their past. They, of course, have their own characteristics, but it is not advisable to talk about their synonymy, since they have some differences.
History of aphorism-sayings
This process began much earlier than the word “aphorism” appeared. There is evidence that in the third millennium BC. e. sayings existed in Egypt. They are also found in many civilizations of the East. They were quite popular in Greece. The sayings of Plato, Socrates, Pythagoras, Epicurus and other thinkers have survived to our days. During the Renaissance, they spread to Europe. In the work of Erasmus of Rotterdam "Adagia" was collected a huge number of catchphrases and proverbs. In England, aphorisms were created by Wald, Shaw, Smiles, etc. And at the end of the 19th century, they began to study the theoretical essence and lexical meaning of the word “aphorism”. It should be noted a significant expansion of the topic and the introduction of wit. That is why aphorisms have spread in literary criticism, politics and history. The style has changed, aphorisms of a humorous, paradoxical and satirical character have arisen, which was not observed in medieval sayings.
Aphorisms. What it is? Examples of use
The Great Soviet Encyclopedia describes aphorism as a type of utterance that allows one to convince using sophisticated surprise using statements. He is able to convince not in a logical way, but with the help of an unexpected correlation of words. The author of the statement is fully convinced of his innocence and uses witty and original word concatenations. For clarity, you should consider examples of classic aphorisms. Gorky said: “They do not give rights, they take rights.” V. Mayakovsky: "The Word is the commander of human power." Descartes: "I think - that means I exist." K. Marx: “Religion is Opium for the People” and others.
The main characteristics of aphorisms
All of them are unexpected, original. That is what they affect our consciousness. They have deep truth and a comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon that they describe. They do not contain direct evidence and are quite predictable. Their distinguishing feature is logic. If you think about it well, you can find the necessary arguments and evidence. They are able to influence our memory with the originality of their formulation. And semantic value affects our consciousness. There are also sayings that have rather unexpected conclusions and do not coincide with the opinion of most people. However, these signs are more likely an exception to the rule. It cannot be stated unequivocally that aphorisms are illogical and contradictory. They are children of science. Today they are close to her with their logic, accuracy and systematic nature.
Features of the subject
As a rule, aphorisms are aimed at “eternal” questions. In them are those truths that have long been forgotten, but are quite important. They acquire a new, quite original shell. And this attracts attention quite a lot and fixes it in memory. Aphorisms do not have a church raid, unlike sayings. We always know their authors for sure. The subjects of sayings have a moral and ethical direction, and in aphorisms this range is much wider. There are many slogans aphorisms. One of them expressed Victor Hugo: "The war to the pillory." Some of them are ironic. D. Jeremic said: “Even those who want to forcibly make others happy are rapists.” It is important to note that they have romantic elation and emotionality. They have the so-called "high style." Today, nevertheless, the concepts of “aphorism” and “saying” are differentiated, despite the fact that they have a lot of similarities. They have a similar history of occurrence and belong to the same genre. It is worth noting that the wrong views on the aphorism today have already made themselves felt ...