Digression

Digression in literature is a section of a composition or speech that is an intentional change of subject. In Classical rhetoric, the digression was a regular part of any oration or composition. After setting out the topic of a work and establishing the need for attention to be given, the speaker or author would digress to a seemingly disconnected subject before returning to a development of the composition's theme, a proof of its validity, and a conclusion. This use of the digression is still noticeable in many sermons: after the topic, the speaker will introduce a "story" that seems to be unrelated, return to the subject, and then reveal that the story illustrates the speaker's point. A schizothemia is a digression by means of a long reminescence.

Related Topics:
Rhetoric - Sermon

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In literature, the digression (not to be confused with subplot) was a substantial part of satiric works of the 18th century. Works such as Jonathan Swift's A Tale of a Tub and Laurence Sterne's Tristram Shandy made digressiveness itself a part of the satire. Sterne's novel, in particular, depended upon the digression, and he wrote, "Digressions, incontestably, are the sunshine; -- they are the life, the soul of reading; -- take them out of this book (Tristram Shandy) for instance, -- you might as well take the book along with them." This use of digression as satire later showed up in Thomas Carlysle's work. The digression was also used for non-satiric purposes in fiction. In Henry Fielding's The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, the author has numerous asides and digressive statements that are a side-fiction, and this sort of digression within chapters shows up later in the work of Charles Dickens, William Makepeace Thackeray, Herman Melville, and others.

Related Topics:
Subplot - Jonathan Swift - A Tale of a Tub - Laurence Sterne - Tristram Shandy - Thomas Carlysle - Henry Fielding - The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling - Charles Dickens - William Makepeace Thackeray - Herman Melville

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In late twentieth-century literature (in post-modern fiction), authors began to use digressions as a way of distancing the reader from the fiction and for creating a greater sense of play. John Fowles's The French Lieutenant's Woman and Lawrence Norfolk's Lempriere's Dictionary both employ digressions to offer scholarly background to the fiction, while others, like Gilbert Sorrentino in Mulligan Stew, use digression to prevent the functioning of the fiction's illusions.

Related Topics:
Post-modern - John Fowles - The French Lieutenant's Woman - Lawrence Norfolk - Gilbert Sorrentino

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