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EntityQ1479098· pop 18· linked from 208 articles

Parataxis (from , "act of placing side by side"; from παρα, para "beside" + τάξις, táxis "arrangement") is a literary technique in writing or speaking that favors short, simple sentences without conjunctions, or sentences coordinated without the use of subordinating conjunctions. It contrasts with syntaxis and hypotaxis.

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opposite of
hypotaxis
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Encyclopedic overview

10 sections
Contents
  • Etymology
  • History
  • Description
  • Meaning
  • Parataxis versus hypotaxis
  • Examples
  • Literature
  • Greek
  • Cultural theory
  • Notes

Parataxis (from , "act of placing side by side"; from παρα, para "beside" + τάξις, táxis "arrangement") is a literary technique in writing or speaking that favors short, simple sentences without conjunctions, or sentences coordinated without the use of subordinating conjunctions. It contrasts with syntaxis and hypotaxis.

It is also used to describe a technique in poetry in which two images or fragments, usually starkly dissimilar images or fragments, are juxtaposed without a clear connection. Readers are then left to make their own connections implied by the paratactic syntax. Ezra Pound, in his adaptation of Chinese and Japanese poetry, made the stark juxtaposition of images an important part of English-language poetry.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “parataxis” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.