It's not just that in all textbooks on the Russian language and literature you can find the phrase: "The Russian language is beautiful and rich." Of course, there is evidence for this, and quite weighty. Firstly, in the Russian language there are a huge number of expressive means that decorate speech, make it so melodic. Russian writers and poets generously add various tropes to their works. They need to be able to see and distinguish. Then the work will sparkle with new colors. Often, with the help of expressive means, authors focus readers' attention on specific things, evoke certain emotions, or help to understand how to relate to characters. One such technique is parallelism. It is divided into several types and is used for different purposes. This article will analyze what parallelism is, using examples of literary works.
What is concurrency?
According to the Big Encyclopedic Dictionary, parallelism is a similar arrangement of speech elements in adjacent parts of the text. Translated from the Greek language, this word means “locating nearby.”
It is easy to conclude that this technique was known to the Greeks and was widely used in rhetoric, was the subject of her research. In general, parallelism is a characteristic feature of ancient literature. In Russian, examples of parallelism are very common in folklore. Moreover, in many ancient works, this was the basic principle of constructing stanzas.
Types of parallelism
There are several forms of parallelism that appear most often in the literature.
Thematic parallelism. In this case, there is a comparison of phenomena that are close in content.
Syntactic parallelism. In this case, the sentences following in order are built according to the same syntactic principle. For example, in several sentences following each other, the same order of arrangement of the main members is observed.
Sound parallelism. This technique is characteristic of poetic speech and is often found in poetic works. The poem takes on its own melody and sound.
But to understand what each of these types means, it is better to understand examples of parallelism.
Syntactic parallelism
As mentioned at the beginning of the article, Russian literary works are rich in various means that make speech more expressive. Therefore, it is worth analyzing examples of syntactic parallelism from the literature. Suchthe technique is found in the poems of M. Yu. Lermontov.
One of these poems is “When the yellowing field is agitated.”
Then my anxiety subsides, Then the wrinkles on the forehead diverge, -
And happiness I can comprehend on earth, And in the sky I see God…
The first two lines follow the same order of the main members of the sentence. The predicate comes first, followed by the subject. And again: predicate, subject. Moreover, very often parallelism occurs together with anaphora or epiphora. And this poem is just that. The same elements are repeated at the beginning of sentences. And anaphora is the repetition of identical elements at the beginning of each sentence/line.
Thematic parallelism. Examples from fiction
This type of expression is perhaps the most common. Both in prose and in poetry one can see various comparisons of phenomena. A particularly common example of parallelism is the comparison of the states of nature and man. For clarity, you can refer to the poem by N. A. Nekrasov "Uncompressed strip". The poem is a dialogue of ears of corn and wind. And it is through this dialogue that the fate of the plowman becomes known.
Knew why he plowed and sowed, Yes, I started the work beyond my strength.
Poor poor fellow - does not eat or drink, The worm sucks his sick heart, Hands that brought these furrows, Dried to pieces, hung like loops…
Audio parallelism
Examples of sound parallelism can be looked for not only in fiction. It has found a very good use in the modern world. Namely - in television and radio broadcasting.
By repeating parts of speech or individual parts of a word, you can create various effects that affect listeners. After all, a person very often associates acoustic representations with semantic ones. This is used by advertising. Perhaps everyone noticed how well advertising slogans are remembered. They are interesting, unusual, but most importantly, they sound good. And it is this sound that sinks into memory. Having heard an advertising slogan once, it is difficult to forget it. It is strongly associated with a certain product.
Negative parallelism
Examples of negative parallelism should be mentioned separately. Everyone has definitely come across him on the school bench. This example of parallelism is common in Russian, especially in poetry. And this technique came from folk songs and was firmly entrenched in poems.
Not cold winds make noise, Not quicksands run, -
Sorrow rises again, Like an evil black cloud…
(Twelfth century folk song).
And there are many such examples in Russian folklore. It is not surprising that writers began to use this technique in their works.
These were the four most common types of parallelism found in fiction and beyond. Basically howit can be seen from the examples that they are used to impress the reader/listener in some way. Arouse certain feelings or associations in him. This is especially important for poetry, where only images are most often used, but nothing is said directly. And parallelism allows you to make these images even brighter. It can also add melody to the timing, making it more memorable. And, as can be seen from the examples, artistic techniques are not only a feature of classical literature. On the contrary, they are alive and used until now. Only in a new key.
