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Apophasis

January 01, 1970

For the religious and philosophical sense of the term, see Apophatic theology.
Not to be confused with Apophysis (disambiguation), Apoptosis, or Apophis (disambiguation).

Apophasis (/əˈpɒfəsɪs/; from Ancient Greek ἀπόφασις (apóphasis), from ἀπόφημι (apóphemi) 'to say no')[1][2] is a rhetorical device wherein the speaker or writer brings up a subject by either denying it, or denying that it should be brought up.[3] Accordingly, it can be seen as a rhetorical relative of irony.

The device is also called paralipsis (παράλειψις) – also spelled paraleipsis or paralepsis – or occupatio or occultatio,[4][5][6][7][8] and known also as praeteritio, preterition, or parasiopesis (παρασιώπησις).

Usage edit

As a rhetorical device, apophasis can serve several purposes. For example, It can be employed to raise an ad hominem or otherwise controversial attack while disclaiming responsibility for it, as in, "I refuse to discuss the rumor that my opponent is a drunk." This can make it a favored tactic in politics.

Apophasis can be used passive-aggressively, as in, "I forgive you for your jealousy, so I won't even mention what a betrayal it was."

In Cicero's "Pro Caelio" speech, he says to a prosecutor, "Obliviscor iam iniurias tuas, Clodia, depono memoriam doloris mei" ("I now forget your wrongs, Clodia, I set aside the memory of my pain [that you caused].")[9]

Apophasis can be used to discuss a taboo subject, as in, "We are all fully loyal to the emperor, so we wouldn't dare to claim that his new clothes are a transparent hoax."

As a rhetorical device, it can serve various purposes, often dependent on the relationship of the speaker to the addressee and the extent of their shared knowledge. Apophasis is rarely literal; instead, it conveys meaning through implications that may depend on this context. As an example of how meaning shifts, the English phrase "needless to say" invokes shared understanding, but its actual meaning depends on whether that understanding was really shared. The speaker is alleging that it is not necessary to say something because the addressee already knows it, but this may not be true. If it is, it may merely emphasize a pertinent fact. If the knowledge is weighted with history, it may be an indirect way of levying an accusation ("needless to say, because you are responsible"). If the addressee does not actually already possess the knowledge, it may be a way to condescend: the speaker suspected as much but wanted to call attention to the addressee's ignorance. Conversely, it could be a sincere and polite way to share necessary information that the addressee may or may not know without implying that the addressee is ignorant. For example, to highlight a spelling error, instead of pointing out the error one could simply use the word in passing, spelled correctly. [citation needed]

Apophasis can serve to politely avoid the suggestion of ignorance on the part of an audience, as found in the narrative style of Adso of Melk in Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose, where the character fills in details of early fourteenth-century history for the reader by stating it is unnecessary to speak of them.[10] Conversely, the same introduction can be made sarcastically to condescend to an audience and imply their ignorance.

Another diplomatic use would be to raise a criticism indirectly, as in, "It would be out of line for me to say that this action would be unwise and unaffordable, sir, as I only care about your best interests."

As the rhetorician Jennifer Mercieca has observed, apophasis can be used to deflect criticism. It can also be an effective device for spreading misinformation and conspiracy theories, because speakers can employ it to avoid taking responsibility for what they say.[11]

Examples edit

When apophasis is taken to its extreme, the speaker provides full details, stating or drawing attention to something in the very act of pretending to pass it over: "I will not stoop to mentioning the occasion last winter when our esteemed opponent was found asleep in an alleyway with an empty bottle of vodka still pressed to his lips."[12]

In the second debate[13] of the 1984 U.S. presidential campaign, Ronald Reagan used a humorous apophasis to deflect scrutiny of his own fitness at age 73 by replying, "I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience."[14] In 1988, he applied a harsher apophasis toward George H. W. Bush's opponent Michael Dukakis, who was rumored to have received psychological treatment, "Look, I'm not going to pick on an invalid."[15]

Former United States President Donald Trump frequently employs apophasis.[16] In 2015, Trump said of fellow Republican presidential candidate and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, "I promised I would not say that she ran Hewlett-Packard into the ground, that she laid off tens of thousands of people and she got viciously fired. I said I will not say it, so I will not say it."[16] In 2016, he tweeted of journalist Megyn Kelly, "I refuse to call [her] a bimbo because that would not be politically correct."[16] In 2017, as president, he tweeted of the leader of North Korea, "Why would Kim Jong-un insult me by calling me 'old', when I would NEVER call him 'short and fat'?".[17] In light of a potential presidential bid by Republican Florida governor Ron DeSantis, Trump claimed he would not use the name "Meatball Ron" in reference to him.[18]

During Prohibition, a grape concentrate brick called Vine-Glo was sold with the warning, "After dissolving the brick in a gallon of water, do not place the liquid in a jug away in the cupboard for twenty days, because then it would turn into wine."[19]

See also edit

Citations edit

  1. ^ Henry Liddell; Robert Scott. ἀπόφημι. A Greek–English Lexicon. Perseus Project. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
  2. ^ "apophasis". Dictionary.com Unabridged (Online). n.d. Retrieved 1 June 2011.
  3. ^ Baird, A. Craig; Thonssen, Lester (1948). "Chapter 15 The Style of Public Address". Speech Criticism, the Development of Standards for Rhetorical Appraisal. Ronald Press Co. p. 432.
  4. ^ Kathryn L. Lynch (2000). Chaucer's Philosophical Visions. Boydell & Brewer Ltd. pp. 144–. ISBN 978-0-85991-600-4. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  5. ^ Anthony David Nuttall (1980). Overheard by God: fiction and prayer in Herbert, Milton, Dante and St. John. Methuen. p. 96. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  6. ^ Fārūq Shūshah; Muḥammad Muḥammad ʻInānī (al-Duktūr.) (2003). Beauty bathing in the river: poems. Egyptian State Pub. House (GEBO). p. 19. ISBN 9789770185193. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  7. ^ K. V. Tirumalesh (1999). Language Matters: Essays on Language, Literature, and Translation. Allied Publishers. p. 113. ISBN 978-81-7023-947-5. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  8. ^ Usher, S. (April 1965). "Occultatio in Cicero's Speeches". The American Journal of Philology. 86 (2): 175. doi:10.2307/293518. ISSN 0002-9475.
  9. ^ Cicero, "Pro Caelio", Chapter 50
  10. ^ Eco, Umberto (1984). "Postscript to the Name of the Rose". The Name of the Rose. Translated by William Weaver. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. p. 39. Eco and Weaver use the spelling paralepsis or "passing over" for the phenomenon.
  11. ^ Mercieca, Jennifer (6 October 2021). "How Donald Trump gets away with saying things other candidates can't". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  12. ^ Burton, Gideon O. . Silva Rhetoricae: The Forest of Rhetoric. Brigham Young University. Archived from the original on 25 May 2011. Retrieved 1 June 2011.
  13. ^ "Reagan recovers in second debate, Oct. 21, 1984". POLITICO.
  14. ^ M. J. Stephey. "Reagan's Age-Old Wisdom". Time. Retrieved 9 September 2017.
  15. ^ Lamar Jr., Jacob V. (15 August 1988). "Reagan: Part Fixer, Part Hatchet Man". Time. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  16. ^ a b c Bobic, Igor (16 February 2016). "He Would Never Say It, But This Is Donald Trump's Favorite Rhetorical Device". HuffPost. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  17. ^ Karimi, Faith (11 November 2017). "Trump sarcastically responds to Kim Jong Un insults". CNN. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
  18. ^ "Trump: I won't call DeSantis 'Meatball Ron'". POLITICO. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  19. ^ Kassens, Alice Louise (2019). Intemperate Spirits: Economic adaptation during Prohibition. Palgrave MacMillan. p. 61.

General and cited references edit

  • Smyth, Herbert Weir (1984) [1920]. Greek Grammar. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. p. 680 (as paraleipsis). ISBN 0-674-36250-0.
  • Lanham, Richard A. (1991) [1967]. A Handlist of Rhetorical Terms (Second Edition). University of California Press. p. 104 (as occultatio). ISBN 9780520273689

External links edit

 
Look up proslepsis, paralipsis, or apophasis in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
  • : Apophasis
  • A Handbook of Rhetorical Devices: Apophasis
  • Wordsmith: Paralipsis

January 01, 1970
apophasis, religious, philosophical, sense, term, apophatic, theology, confused, with, apophysis, disambiguation, apoptosis, apophis, disambiguation, from, ancient, greek, ἀπόφασις, apóphasis, from, ἀπόφημι, apóphemi, rhetorical, device, wherein, speaker, writ. For the religious and philosophical sense of the term see Apophatic theology Not to be confused with Apophysis disambiguation Apoptosis or Apophis disambiguation Apophasis e ˈ p ɒ f e s ɪ s from Ancient Greek ἀpofasis apophasis from ἀpofhmi apophemi to say no 1 2 is a rhetorical device wherein the speaker or writer brings up a subject by either denying it or denying that it should be brought up 3 Accordingly it can be seen as a rhetorical relative of irony The device is also called paralipsis paraleipsis also spelled paraleipsis or paralepsis or occupatio or occultatio 4 5 6 7 8 and known also as praeteritio preterition or parasiopesis parasiwphsis Contents 1 Usage 2 Examples 3 See also 4 Citations 5 General and cited references 6 External linksUsage editAs a rhetorical device apophasis can serve several purposes For example It can be employed to raise an ad hominem or otherwise controversial attack while disclaiming responsibility for it as in I refuse to discuss the rumor that my opponent is a drunk This can make it a favored tactic in politics Apophasis can be used passive aggressively as in I forgive you for your jealousy so I won t even mention what a betrayal it was In Cicero s Pro Caelio speech he says to a prosecutor Obliviscor iam iniurias tuas Clodia depono memoriam doloris mei I now forget your wrongs Clodia I set aside the memory of my pain that you caused 9 Apophasis can be used to discuss a taboo subject as in We are all fully loyal to the emperor so we wouldn t dare to claim that his new clothes are a transparent hoax As a rhetorical device it can serve various purposes often dependent on the relationship of the speaker to the addressee and the extent of their shared knowledge Apophasis is rarely literal instead it conveys meaning through implications that may depend on this context As an example of how meaning shifts the English phrase needless to say invokes shared understanding but its actual meaning depends on whether that understanding was really shared The speaker is alleging that it is not necessary to say something because the addressee already knows it but this may not be true If it is it may merely emphasize a pertinent fact If the knowledge is weighted with history it may be an indirect way of levying an accusation needless to say because you are responsible If the addressee does not actually already possess the knowledge it may be a way to condescend the speaker suspected as much but wanted to call attention to the addressee s ignorance Conversely it could be a sincere and polite way to share necessary information that the addressee may or may not know without implying that the addressee is ignorant For example to highlight a spelling error instead of pointing out the error one could simply use the word in passing spelled correctly citation needed Apophasis can serve to politely avoid the suggestion of ignorance on the part of an audience as found in the narrative style of Adso of Melk in Umberto Eco s The Name of the Rose where the character fills in details of early fourteenth century history for the reader by stating it is unnecessary to speak of them 10 Conversely the same introduction can be made sarcastically to condescend to an audience and imply their ignorance Another diplomatic use would be to raise a criticism indirectly as in It would be out of line for me to say that this action would be unwise and unaffordable sir as I only care about your best interests As the rhetorician Jennifer Mercieca has observed apophasis can be used to deflect criticism It can also be an effective device for spreading misinformation and conspiracy theories because speakers can employ it to avoid taking responsibility for what they say 11 Examples editWhen apophasis is taken to its extreme the speaker provides full details stating or drawing attention to something in the very act of pretending to pass it over I will not stoop to mentioning the occasion last winter when our esteemed opponent was found asleep in an alleyway with an empty bottle of vodka still pressed to his lips 12 In the second debate 13 of the 1984 U S presidential campaign Ronald Reagan used a humorous apophasis to deflect scrutiny of his own fitness at age 73 by replying I will not make age an issue of this campaign I am not going to exploit for political purposes my opponent s youth and inexperience 14 In 1988 he applied a harsher apophasis toward George H W Bush s opponent Michael Dukakis who was rumored to have received psychological treatment Look I m not going to pick on an invalid 15 Former United States President Donald Trump frequently employs apophasis 16 In 2015 Trump said of fellow Republican presidential candidate and former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina I promised I would not say that she ran Hewlett Packard into the ground that she laid off tens of thousands of people and she got viciously fired I said I will not say it so I will not say it 16 In 2016 he tweeted of journalist Megyn Kelly I refuse to call her a bimbo because that would not be politically correct 16 In 2017 as president he tweeted of the leader of North Korea Why would Kim Jong un insult me by calling me old when I would NEVER call him short and fat 17 In light of a potential presidential bid by Republican Florida governor Ron DeSantis Trump claimed he would not use the name Meatball Ron in reference to him 18 During Prohibition a grape concentrate brick called Vine Glo was sold with the warning After dissolving the brick in a gallon of water do not place the liquid in a jug away in the cupboard for twenty days because then it would turn into wine 19 See also editAntiphrasis Apophatic theology Argument from ignorance Argument from silence Elephant in the room Glossary of rhetorical terms Ironic process theory Problem of induction Streisand effect The lady doth protest too much methinks UnsaidCitations edit Henry Liddell Robert Scott ἀpofhmi A Greek English Lexicon Perseus Project Retrieved 7 April 2013 apophasis Dictionary com Unabridged Online n d Retrieved 1 June 2011 Baird A Craig Thonssen Lester 1948 Chapter 15 The Style of Public Address Speech Criticism the Development of Standards for Rhetorical Appraisal Ronald Press Co p 432 Kathryn L Lynch 2000 Chaucer s Philosophical Visions Boydell amp Brewer Ltd pp 144 ISBN 978 0 85991 600 4 Retrieved 22 May 2013 Anthony David Nuttall 1980 Overheard by God fiction and prayer in Herbert Milton Dante and St John Methuen p 96 Retrieved 22 May 2013 Faruq Shushah Muḥammad Muḥammad ʻInani al Duktur 2003 Beauty bathing in the river poems Egyptian State Pub House GEBO p 19 ISBN 9789770185193 Retrieved 22 May 2013 K V Tirumalesh 1999 Language Matters Essays on Language Literature and Translation Allied Publishers p 113 ISBN 978 81 7023 947 5 Retrieved 22 May 2013 Usher S April 1965 Occultatio in Cicero s Speeches The American Journal of Philology 86 2 175 doi 10 2307 293518 ISSN 0002 9475 Cicero Pro Caelio Chapter 50 Eco Umberto 1984 Postscript to the Name of the Rose The Name of the Rose Translated by William Weaver San Diego Harcourt Brace Jovanovich p 39 Eco and Weaver use the spelling paralepsis or passing over for the phenomenon Mercieca Jennifer 6 October 2021 How Donald Trump gets away with saying things other candidates can t Washington Post ISSN 0190 8286 Retrieved 13 February 2024 Burton Gideon O paralipsis Silva Rhetoricae The Forest of Rhetoric Brigham Young University Archived from the original on 25 May 2011 Retrieved 1 June 2011 Reagan recovers in second debate Oct 21 1984 POLITICO M J Stephey Reagan s Age Old Wisdom Time Retrieved 9 September 2017 Lamar Jr Jacob V 15 August 1988 Reagan Part Fixer Part Hatchet Man Time Retrieved 16 August 2015 a b c Bobic Igor 16 February 2016 He Would Never Say It But This Is Donald Trump s Favorite Rhetorical Device HuffPost Retrieved 25 May 2016 Karimi Faith 11 November 2017 Trump sarcastically responds to Kim Jong Un insults CNN Retrieved 12 November 2017 Trump I won t call DeSantis Meatball Ron POLITICO Retrieved 18 April 2023 Kassens Alice Louise 2019 Intemperate Spirits Economic adaptation during Prohibition Palgrave MacMillan p 61 General and cited references editSmyth Herbert Weir 1984 1920 Greek Grammar Cambridge MA Harvard University Press p 680 as paraleipsis ISBN 0 674 36250 0 Lanham Richard A 1991 1967 A Handlist of Rhetorical Terms Second Edition University of California Press p 104 as occultatio ISBN 9780520273689External links edit nbsp Look up proslepsis paralipsis or apophasis in Wiktionary the free dictionary Figures of rhetoric Apophasis A Handbook of Rhetorical Devices Apophasis Wordsmith Paralipsis Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Apophasis amp oldid 1206979507, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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