Have you ever heard ironic remarks instead of compliments? For example, in a youth environment, a vintage thing can cause an explosion of wit, which boils down to one thing: this is an anachronism.
Definition
This word came from the Greek language by compiling ανά + χρόνος, which means “against” + “time”. Since time always flows in one direction, bringing culture, language changes, technological progress and other landmarks characteristic of time indicators, anachronism is any event or object that breaks out of its framework.
In cases with antique jewelry or, for example, Birkin bags of the first series, everything is clear: these things are timeless and only increase their value. True, to admire them, you need to have an idea about them.
Anachronism, the meaning of the word
There are two meanings of the word:
1. Something outdated and outdated.
2. An incredible event in chronological terms. Two varieties are distinguished here:
- Naive anachronism is a historical mistake. An example is the work of W. Shakespeare "Julius Caesar." In it, the author mentions a tower clock. But, as you know, they appeared much later, in the XIV century. And in “Hamlet” there are guns and the university where Hamlet and Horatio studied was mentioned. If the novel describes events of the times of the knights, then such confusion is unacceptable.
- Stylistic anachronism is a conscious use by an author of an artistic technique in which events and objects of historical eras are mixed.
Medieval literature and painting abounds with such examples. Ancient heroes, biblical characters and historical figures of the pre-Christian era are dressed in modern clothes by the author and in addition can attend church.
So it turns out that in the picture of James Northcote the Old Testament events of the time of the conquest of the promised land are presented as follows: Jael, a Jewess in a corset, has a bed in his tent. And Sisera is dressed in medieval knightly armor.
In the XXI century, this literary device finds many fans in the media environment. With the development of an ironic attitude to life, its use will only increase.
Anachronism Words: Examples
As an example of naive anachronism, two well-known mistakes can be cited in the historical novels of A. N. Tolstoy “Peter I” and Maurice Druon “When the King Ruins France”. Tolstoy mentions the regiments of Kalmyks who took part in the Northern War. In fact, the Kalmyks took Russian citizenship after the death of Peter. Therefore, they could not take part on the side of Russia. Druon mentions Knight Busiko among the participants in the Battle of Poitiers (1356). In fact, he was born ten years later, in 1366.
Anachronism as a literary device is used in the science fiction works of the writers of Edmund Cooper, “The Heirs of the Superman” and Cyrus Bulychev, “The Dragonosaurus”. Cooper writes about London after a nuclear disaster, where humanity is recreated by computer. As a result, Queen Victoria and Churchill rule the country, Shakespeare is the headmaster, and Faraday is the main character. Bulychev placed at one time Jeanne d'Arc and Robin Hood.
In dramaturgy, anachronism is deliberately chosen as an interesting technique. So, Mark Zakharov includes him in the productions of N. A. Ostrovsky. The famous "Princess Turandot" of the Vakhtangov theater is replete with such inclusions. This makes the play topical and relevant, despite the ancient plot.
The Norwegian Stefan Herheim staged the opera Eugene Onegin on the stage of Amsterdam in a mixture of times: on the stage there are Bolsheviks and a red star, and Lensky looks like Lenin. The ball opens with athletes, posters of the "USSR", folk dances. The manager of the ball is a bear. All this panopticon can be expressed with the words: "Russia through the eyes of foreigners."
Not to be confused with archaism!
But what if in a conversation someone wants to show off words that have long gone out of circulation? In one criminal novel by Joanna Khmelevskaya, there is such a character. It seems that he independently studied the language from some ancient books and expressed himself as if he had been transported into our world from the depths of centuries. His phrases made people freeze in perplexity:
- "The light of truth affirmed our aspirations."
- "Like the sand of the sea."
- "How much thing together."
- "And so it was."
- "Az to the verb."
- "Who are these?"
Then we have archaism. This is also a Greek word (ἀρχαῖος - "ancient"), but its meaning is slightly different. Brockhaus and Efron interpret it as obsolete turns of speech. During the development of the language, they were replaced by synonyms.
Not to be confused with historicism!
Words denoting objects and concepts that have disappeared from the historical field of events are called historicisms. They have become obsolete in everyday speech, but are preserved in historical or archaeological research and publications. Many as historical terms:
- veche;
- Altyn;
- cab;
- yarmulke;
- college assessor;
- lorgnette.
They do not have synonyms, since the objects themselves that they describe are absent in modern reality.
Undoubtedly, interesting anachronisms adorn art. They make us take a fresh look at familiar things, thanks to their skillful use, the classic is getting closer to modern life. It is only important to know the measure, so as not to fall into trouble.