Literary Systems — A Brief Catalog of Literary Forms

A Brief Catalog of Literary Forms

The study of literary systems has no canon yet. There is nowhere to turn to find a listing of the literary forms that service certain systems. But the impulse to name and order the latent forms is present in many fields, and there are several authors who have put forth a group of literary forms as a part of their theories.

Spencer Ladd gave a lecture at RISD, where he spoke about the rhetorical devices of the image. He named a group of forms, mostly taken from traditional literature, that also have strong effects in the visual realm. They are:

Simile, Allegory, Hyperbole, Metaphor, Paradox, Paralipsis, Syllepsis, Metonomy, Meiosis.

In Image—Music—Text, Roland Barthes outlines a method for the "structural analysis of narratives." He's searching for a deductive theory, a general model that he can apply to narratives to diverse types. His original outline includes what would seem to be several literary forms, employed by Barthes for their specific roles in the construction of narrative meaning. Among them are:

Cardinal Functions (or Nuclei), Indices (pointers to meaning), Catalyzers (functions that merely serve to fill space between nuclei), and Informants (immediately understandable information).

More traditional literary forms for novels come in the standard middle-school variety: Metaphor, Apostrophe, Hyperbole, Metonymy, Personification, Synecdoche, Innuendo, Irony, and so on.

In the discipline of Computer Science, one of the most lasting and influential texts is an encyclopedia of literary forms for programmers. It's commonly called the "Gang of Four" after it's four authors, but Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software includes:

Abstract Factory, Builder, Prototype, Singleton, Bridge, Composite, Decorator, Facade, Proxy, Interpreter, Iterator, Memento, Observer, Visitor, and more.

Each of these forms is a common idiom, developed through extensive experience with developing object-oriented software, that helps to express the solution to a frequent problem. These are the cliches, if you will, of modern programming.

Every one of the above forms is an aid in particular situations, to convey certain complex meanings to the reader, through patterns which have been handed down and copied.

Simplicity is Relative

Answers.com has a fairly complete list of these forms:

allegory: An extended metaphor in which a story is told to illustrate an important attribute of the subject
allusion: An indirect reference to another work of literature or art
anacoenosis: Posing a question to an audience, often with the implication that it shares a common interest with the speaker
antanaclasis: A form of pun in which a word is repeated in two different senses
anthimeria: The substitution of one part of speech for another, often turning a noun into a verb
antiphrasis: A word or words used contradictory to their usual meaning, often with irony
antonomasia: The substitution of a phrase for a proper name or vice versa
aphorism: A tersely phrased statement of a truth or opinion, an adage
apophasis: Invoking an idea by denying its invocation
aporia: Deliberating with oneself, often with the use of rhetorical questions
apostrophe: Addressing a thing, an abstraction or a person not present
archaism: Use of an obsolete, archaic, word(a word used in olden language, e.g. Shakespeare's language)
auxesis: A form of hyperbole, in which a more important sounding word is used in place of a more descriptive term
catachresis: A mixed metaphor (sometimes used by design and sometimes a rhetorical fault)
circumlocution: "Talking around" a topic by substituting or adding words, as in euphemism or periphrasis
commiseration: Evoking pity in the audience.
correctio: Linguistic device used for correcting one's mistakes, a form of which is epanorthosis.
denominatio: Another word for metonymy
double negative: grammar error that can be used as an expression and it is the repetition of negative words
epanorthosis: Immediate and emphatic self-correction, often following a slip of the tongue.
enumeratio: A form of amplification in which a subject is divided, detailing parts, causes, effects, or consequences to make a point more forcibly.
erotema: Synonym for rhetorical question
euphemism: Substitution of a less offensive or more agreeable term for another
hermeneia: Repetition for the purpose of interpreting what has already been said
hyperbole: Use of exaggerated terms for emphasis
hypophora: Answering one's own rhetorical question at length
hysteron proteron: Reversal of anticipated order of events
innuendo: Having a hidden meaning in a sentence that makes sense whether it is detected or not
invocation: An apostrophe to a god or muse
irony: Use of word in a way that conveys a meaning opposite to its usual meaning
litotes: Emphasizing the magnitude of a statement by denying its opposite
malapropism: Using a word through confusion with a word that sounds similar
meiosis: Use of understatement, usually to diminish the importance of something
metalepsis: Referring to something through reference to another thing to which it is remotely related
metaphor: An implied comparison of two unlike things
metonymy: Substitution of a word to suggest what is really meant
neologism: The use of a word or term that has recently been created, or has been in use for a short time. Opposite of archaism.
onomatopoeia: Words that sound like their meaning
oxymoron: Using two terms together, that normally contradict each other
parable: An extended metaphor told as an anecdote to illustrate or teach a moral lesson
paradox: Use of apparently contradictory ideas to point out some underlying truth
parallel irony: conveys a meaning same in an expression
paralipsis: Drawing attention to something while pretending to pass it over
paronomasia: A form of pun, in which words similar in sound but with different meanings are used
pathetic fallacy: Using a word that refers to a human action on something non-human
periphrasis: Substitution of a word or phrase for a proper name
personification/prosopopoeia/anthropomorphism: Attributing applying human qualities to inanimate objects, animals, or natural phenomena
praeteritio: Another word for paralipsis
procatalepsis: Refuting anticipated objections as part of the main argument
prolepsis: Another word for procatalepsis
proslepsis: An extreme form of paralipsis in which the speaker provides great detail while feigning to pass over a topic
proverb:A succinct or pithy expression of what is commonly observed and believed to be true.
rhetorical question: Asking a question as a way of asserting something. Or asking a question not for the sake of getting an answer but for asserting something (or as for in a poem for creating a poetic effect).
simile: An explicit comparison between two things
syllepsis: A form of pun, in which a single word is used to modify two other words, with which it normally would have differing meanings
syncatabasis ("condescension, accommodation"): adaptation of style to the level of the audience
synecdoche: A form of metonymy, in which a part stands for the whole
synesthesia: The description of one kind of sense impression by using words that normally describe another.
transferred epithet: The placing of an adjective with what appears to be the incorrect noun
truism: a self-evident statement
tricolon diminuens: A combination of three elements, each decreasing in size
tricolon crescens: A combination of three elements, each increasing in size
zeugma: a figure of speech related to syllepsis, but different in that the word used as a modifier is not compatible with one of the two words it modifies
zoomorphism: applying animal characteristics to humans or gods

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A Brief Catalog of Literary Forms