The passage of time inexorably moves forward, absorbing everything that, according to its natural data, has an end. Even intangible words become his victim - with the passage of time, many words and phrases that are widely used in a certain period also disappear with the people who use them. For such words, the term was coined - historicism.
Definition
Passing to a more scientific and rigorous terminology, we can explain what historicism is, as follows. There are a number of words or phrases previously widely used in speech that are tied to objects denoting them, but as a result of the disappearance of those, they no longer need their designation, and accordingly, these phrases and words quickly began to go out of use. The definition of historicism is opposed to archaism, which has a similar, but more fortunate fate. When the words began to become obsolete, they were not “thrown overboard”, but replaced with more modern synonyms, but more on that later.
Currently, words recognized by historicisms are included in the so-called passive dictionary of the Russian language. They are used solely to give some ancient coloring or to emphasize the period about which a narrative is taking place, whether it is a story, a movie or a work. That's what historicism is!
Aging Terminology
The phenomenon of historicism is quite relative. One has only to think about it - some words, now recognized by historicisms, some centuries ago were in use. For example: prince, caftan, county, penniless, boyar . Some words and phrases were even “on the tongue” even among our grandparents, such as the tax deductible, educational program, shopping bag , etc. Accordingly, you can draw a logical thread and make sure that after a while those words that we used ourselves, will also go into the category of historicisms. These in the very near future may include a floppy disk, cassette, pager - these words in 20 years can safely be cited as an example, explaining what historicism is.
Basically, the words that fall under the definition of historicism owe their fate to progress. As noted above, time changes everything around. With each new day, with each new minute in the world, something happens: a new one is invented, the old is modernized and improved, respectively, they try to get rid of objects and concepts lagging behind the passage of time in the first place. However, thanks to the work of numerous historians, many household items, as well as ranks, ranks and processes that took place in past times, are successfully recreated to preserve the cultural heritage of any nation. And what is historicism would not be historicism if there were no people who let us know that such expressions were once used.
The basic principle
"In the world, everything makes sense," says folk wisdom. It is just as easily applicable to the term historicism. In order to study why a certain subject came out of everyday life, and also why it was not replaced by a synonym, such as archaism, for example, a mechanism for studying certain phenomena, such as the principle of historicism , was created. With its help, it is possible to consider causal relationships relating to the history of a certain subject, factors that influenced its origin. It is also possible to consider various historical changes that entailed a subsequent decline in the use of the word, right up to the immediate disappearance from colloquial speech and the transition to the section of historicisms.
This principle helps to very successfully connect a certain era, during which historicism was used, with the reasons why it was necessary at that time and because of which it later went out of use. Thanks to this, the complete picture of the “life cycle” of the word that has come out of use is preserved.
Differences between historicism and archaism
Previously, such a definition as archaism was indirectly mentioned, and was placed in the antonyms of historicism. Is this so and are historicisms and archaisms really “on opposite sides of the barricades”? In fact, the fate of words and phrases related to both archaisms and historicisms is essentially the same - they all went out of use. The exception, due to which they are separated from each other, was the more “fortunate” fate of the latter - in the modern world they have been successfully replaced by synonymous words and phrases. For example: lepota has become beauty , eyes have become eyes , the verb hope has been replaced by a suitable meaning to hope , etc.
Unlike historicisms, archaisms at least somehow keep pace with the development of the language and, if not completely, by sound are transferred to the mouth (a good example of the use of archaism of the current word lips ) of people of the present.
In literature
In an attempt to describe a period in an artistic language and for a more believable transfer of the plot thread in a certain era, the historicism of literature was invented. Thanks to its use in literature, the authors were able to more successfully and colorfully present to the reader the idea that was the basis of their work.
However, this term is possible and necessary to consider from two perspectives. Firstly, not as a deliberate move, thanks to which the author purposefully introduced obsolete and out of colloquial words to give color, but as a phenomenon inherent in any work of art and not depending on the time frame in which it is used. That is, the author, using current historicisms, by the standards of that time did not at all pursue the goal of using them, since at the time of writing they were quite used and did not cause any special contrasts.
The second position is the use of historicisms directly to clearly indicate the period about which or in which the narrative is going on. Thanks to the introduction of such words and phrases, the reader himself unwittingly more thoroughly immerses himself at that time and receives much more vivid and memorable emotions.