Synecdoche - denten-courses/metaphor-media GitHub Wiki

Synecdoche is defined as using a part to represent the whole, or the whole to represent a part. For example, we might use the term "wheels" to refer to a car, or "the sea" to refer to a wave. Within that definition, "part for whole" is the more common usage.

Despite this familiar definition, somewhat surprisingly, we at times find commentators defining synecdoche more broadly. Thus, Cicero ("in whatever way, by this figure, the sense is to be understood, not as it is expressed, but as it is meant"), Quintillion ("some also apply the term synecdochè when something is assumed which hasn’t actually been expressed, since one word is then discovered from other words . . . . Again, one thing may be suggested by another"), and Erasmus ("In short, whenever one thing is understood from another in any way whatsoever. . . . We deduce the thing signified from the sign"). Both Erasmus and Quintillian reference an action that implies it is nighttime, without that actually being stated, such as "smoke is rising from the farmhouse roofs" or "Behold, the steers/Bring back the plough suspended from the yoke." Despite the broad definitional language, that example of suggestion or signification aligns with the "part for whole" definition in that the "thing signified" can be read as the whole (such as "night"), while the "sign"can be read as a part (such as "smoke rising"), while also pushing into a less literal, physically embodied understanding of synecdoche. However, other examples indicate synecdoche can even apply to relationships beyond part/whole, such as temporal sequences.

The early commentators were concerned with poetic and rhetorical usage and related questions of classification. But their broader definition of synecdoche anticipates later writers who focus on the conceptual function of metaphors in the way we frame and absorb new knowledge. Synecdoche is almost never specifically referenced by these later writers, who instead use the term "metaphor," although synecdoche should logically partake of that function as a type of metaphor. Because the specific classification of tropes is of less interest to those later writers concerned with perception, emotion, comprehension and similar general topics, it is understandable that the particular category of synecdoche is no longer treated as independently relevant in those discussions.

A notable exception is Kenneth Burke’s 1941 essay, "Four Master Tropes." While acknowledging considerable overlap in his classifications, Burke seeks to elucidate a particular meaning for synecdoche, which he defines as "representation." From there he posits that "synecdochic form" is present in such diverse areas as political representation by elected government, sensory representation by perception, and artistic representation. Thus, the U.S. Senate is an example of synecdoche, as is what he calls "the noblest synecdoche," metaphysical doctrines where the individual is conceptualized as a universe, and vice versa. Burke’s reading moves synecdoche out of the poetic and rhetorical realm to interpret and reflect on a variety of matters. By using the term "synecdochic" to articulate a "synecdoche-type" relationship, Burke also goes further to extend or "coach" his reading into relationships beyond part/whole such as before/after and implicit/explicit — harkening back perhaps to those broad early definitions, such as Erasmus' sign/signified.

While provocative, if synecdoche is a useful classification at all, such an extended concept would seem to expand so far as to deprive synecdoche of any unique meaning or function. Thus, if relevant, synecdoche is in practice still best defined in terms of whole/part, even if whole/part are understood expansively.

And to this figure is closely allied another [synecdoche] . . . as when we would have the whole of a thing understood from a part . . . or a part from the whole . . . or when we signify the plural from the singular . . . or when the singular is understood from the plural . . .or in whatever way, by this figure, the sense is to be understood, not as it is expressed, but as it is meant."

Cicero, Marcus Tullius, and J. S. Watson. Cicero on oratory and orators. New York: Harper & Bros., 1860, Ch. XLII, 241.

These four kinds of metaphor are further subdivided into a number of species, such as … from the whole to its parts and from the parts to the whole . . . . synecdochè has the power to give variety to our language by making us realise many things from one, the whole from a part, the genus from a species, things which follow from things which have preceded; or, on the other hand, the whole procedure may be reversed . . . . some also apply the term synecdochè when something is assumed which hasn’t actually been expressed, since one word is then discovered from other words . . . . Again, one thing may be suggested by another. . . . " Quintillion, Marcus Fabius, and H.E. Butler.

The Institutio Oratoria. Cambridge: Harvard Univ Press, London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1921, Vol. III, Book VIII, 307, 311-312.

The figure synecdoche either puts the part for the whole, or the whole for the part."

Augustine, Aurelius., and Marcus Dods. The Works of Aurelius Augustine, Bishop of Hippo. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1873, Book 3, Ch. XXXV, 113.

Synecdoche is also extremely useful. Some people call it intellection, because we understand one thing from another, like understanding many from one …​ We can also understand the whole from the part …​ Or we can understand a class from one example …​ This type is not so satisfactory if reversed. Or the thing made from the material employed …​ In short, whenever one thing is understood from another in any way whatsoever …​ We deduce the thing signified from the sign."

Erasmus, Desiderius, and C. R. Thompson. Collected works of Erasmus. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1978, Vol. 24, Ch. 23/Variety (11), 341.

For synecdoche we could substitute representation . . . . For this purpose we consider synecdoche in the usual range of dictionary sense, with such meanings as: part for the whole, whole for the part, container for the contained, sign for the thing signified, material for the thing made (which brings us nearer to metonymy), cause for effect, effect for cause, genus for species, species for genus, etc. All such conversions imply an integral relationship, a relationship of convertibility, between the two terms."

Burke, Kenneth. "Four Master Tropes." The Kenyon Review, Vol. 3, No. 14, Autumn 1941,421-438, 421 & 426-427.

Walls or roof for a whole building; When we call one troop the cavalry of the roman people; But still the Roman, though the affair has been conducted well, is anxious in his heart. We that were Rudians once are Romans now.

Cicero, On Oratory and Orators, Ch. XLII, 241.

mucro, the point, for the whole sword; tectum, roof, for a whole house; ferrum, the steel, may be used to indicate a sword; Livy frequently says, "The Roman won the day," when he means that the Romans were victorious; Cicero in a letter to Brutus says, "We have imposed on the people and are regarded as orators," when he is speaking of himself alone; Behold, the steers/Bring back the plough suspended from the yoke," from which we infer the approach of night.

Quintillion, The Institutio Oratoria, Vol. III, Book VIII, 311-312:

As, for example, in reference to the time when, in the presence of only three of His disciples, our Lord was transfigured on the mount, so that His face shone as the sun, and His raiment was white as snow, one evangelist says that this event occurred " after eight days," while another says that it occurred " after six days." Now both of these statements about the number of days cannot be true, unless we suppose that the writer who says " after eight days," counted the latter part of the day on which Christ uttered the prediction and the first part of the day on which he showed its fulfilment as two whole days; while the writer who says " after six days," counted only the whole unbroken days between these two. This figure of speech, which puts the part for the whole, explains also the great question about the resurrection of Christ. For unless to the latter part of the day on which He suffered we join the previous night, and count it as a whole day, and to the latter part of the night in which He arose we join the Lord’s day which was just dawning, and count it also a whole day, we cannot make out the three days and three nights during which He foretold that He would be in the heart of the earth.

Augustine, Book 3, Ch. XXXV, 113.

The Roman, victorious in battle.; The Carthaginian routed' for 'Carthaginians; We can also understand the whole from the part, for example, blade for sword, roof for house; Or the other way round: 'A mighty sea crashing down from the heights'; or 'Others brought fountain and fire': sea is for (storming) wave,fountain for a portion of spring-water; Or we can understand a class from one example: 'More stormy than the Adriatic' (Horace) for sea in general; 'draughts of Achelous' (Virgil) for any river; Or the thing made from the material employed: steel for sword, fir or pine for ship; Or subsequent actions from previous ones: broke her virgin-knot,that is, deflowered; spurred on his horse, that is, galloped; washed and oiled, that is, clean and shining; They have lived, that is, they are dead; We too once knew our glory; We Trojans are no more; Yonder, smoke is rising from the farm- house roofs.' In this last example we understand that night is falling, though something very different is said.

Erasmus, Collected Works, De Copia, Vol. 24, Ch. 23/ Variety (11), 341.

The use of "head' for man or person, so frequent in vulgar Latin, was due to the fact that in the forests only the head of a man could be seen from a distance.

In the same way, ttgnum and culmen, "log" and "top," came to be used with entire propriety when thatching was the practice for rafter and thatch; and later, with the adornment of cities, they signified all the materials and trim of a building.

Again, tectum, "roof," came to mean a whole house because in the first times a covering sufficed for a house.

Similarly, puppis, "poop," for a ship, because it was the highest part and therefore the first to be seen by those on shore; as in the returned barbarian times a ship was called a sail.

Similarly, mucro, "point," for sword, because it is an abstract word and as in a genus comprehends pummel, hilt, edge and point; it was the point they felt which aroused their fear.

Similarly, the material for the formed whole, as iron for sword, because they did not know how to abstract the form from the material.

Vico, Giambattista, Thomas Goddard Bergin and Max Harold Fisch. The New Science of Giambattista Vico. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press, 1948, Book II Poetic Wisdom, Ch. II, sec. 407, 117.

The "noblest synecdoche," the perfect paradigm or prototype for all lesser usages, is found in metaphysical doctrines proclaiming the identity of "microcosm" and "macrocosm." In such doctrines, where the individual is treated as a replica of the universe, and vice versa, we have the ideal synecdoche, since microcosm is related to macrocosm as part to whole, and either the whole can represent the part or the part can represent the whole. (For "represent" here we could substitute "be identified with.") One could thus look through the remotest astronomical distances to the "truth within," or could look within to learn the "truth in all the universe without." Leibniz’s monadology is a good instance of
the synecdochic on this grand scale. (And "representation" is his 
word for this synecdochic relationship.)

A similar synecdochic form is present in all theories of political representation, where some part of the social body (either traditionally established, or elected, or coming into authority by revolution) is held to be "representative" of the society as a whole.

Sensory representation is, of course, synecdochic in that the
senses abstract certain qualities from some bundle of electrochemical activities we call, say, a tree, and these qualities (such as size,shape, color, texture, weight, etc.) can be said "truly to represent" a tree. Similarly, artistic representation is synecdochic, in that certain relations within the medium "stand for" corresponding relations outside it. There is also a sense in which the well-formed work of art is internally synecdochic.

Similarly, the realm of psychology (and particularly the psychology of art) requires the use of the synecdochic reversals. Indeed, I would want deliberately to "coach" the concept of the synecdochic by extending it to cover such relations (and their reversals) as: before for after, implicit for explicit, temporal sequence for logical sequence, name for narrative, disease for cure, hero for villain, active for passive. At the opening of The Ancient Mariner, for instance, the Albatross is a gerundive: its nature when introduced is that of something to be murdered, and it implicitly contains the future that is to become explicit. In Moby Dick, Ahab as pursuer is pursued; his action is a passion.

Burke, Kenneth. "Four Master Tropes." The Kenyon Review, Vol. 3, No. 14, Autumn 1941,421-438, 427-428.