Hyperbole, examples of artistic exaggeration in literature. What is hyperbole? This is a special artistic device in literature: example sentences

Any writing contains a number of special stylistic devices, such as metaphor, comparison, grotesque or hyperbole. Literature simply cannot do without specific linguistic means, which give the work a special artistic expressiveness. Without stylistic devices, books of any genre would turn into an ordinary description of facts and would resemble dry scientific works in content.

Definition

Hyperbole in literature is a means by which the properties of objects or phenomena are clearly and deliberately exaggerated in order to enhance the impact on readers. This stylistic device can be found in almost any writer, both classic and modern author.

- “every stroke, the shock is ready” N. A. Nekrasov;

- “as wide as the Black Sea” N.V. Gogol about Cossack trousers;

- “the wind blew and rose” Russian folk tales;

- “snores like a tractor” I. Ilf, E. Petrov;

- “chalk, chalk all over the earth” B. Pasternak.

Difference from similar linguistic means

Hyperbole in literature is similar to other stylistic devices: metaphor, simile or grotesque. But there are significant differences. Grotesque is always a mixture of reality and fantasy, beauty and ugliness in order to create a special comic image. Simile and metaphor, just like hyperbole, compare objects and phenomena, but hyperbole is always an exaggeration. Examples: “legs like an elephant”, “high to the sky”, “said a thousand times”, etc.

Linguistic means of understatement

Hyperbole in literature has its opposite - litotes. This stylistic device is based on the understatement of objects or phenomena, for example, “a little man with a fingernail,” “the cat cried,” “just a stone’s throw away.” Some linguists consider litotes not an independent stylistic device, but a special case of hyperbole.

Language means in colloquial speech

Do not think that figurative expressions are an invention of the classics of the 16-17th centuries. Both hyperbole and other stylistic devices have been known since ancient times. For example, in the Sermon on the Mount - “as quickly as a camel will pass through the eye of a needle” or “if he waves, the street will become” in ancient Russian epics about Ilya Muromets. Hyperbole is actively used in colloquial speech, without it our language would be much poorer. Examples: “haven’t seen each other for a hundred years”, “at least a dime a dozen”, “an eternity”, “a berry is as big as a fist”, “I’m falling off my feet from fatigue”, etc. It also finds its application in oratory - the goal is everything the same, with the help of exaggeration to attract the attention of the audience and enhance the expressiveness of speech. Hyperbole is also used in advertising slogans, for example, “more than taste” or “never can't put it down.”

Visualization

There is also a visual analogue of this stylistic device, for example, on propaganda posters Soviet period, the figure of the Bolshevik always rose sharply not only above people, but also above the roofs of houses. The understatement of images (litote) can be found in Bosch’s paintings, where a person is shown as small and insignificant, as a symbol of the vanity and insignificance of sinful everyday life.

Remember, hyperbole in literature is figurative expression, so it should not be taken literally. It is only a means to focus attention or enhance expressiveness.

Russian literature is replete with a variety of speech patterns. In order to make speech more vivid and expressive, people often use figurative language and stylistic devices: comparison, inversion and others. Everyone in his life, while reading this or that literature, has probably encountered such a concept as hyperbole, without even knowing the meaning of this term.

In contact with

Use in literature

Hyperboles in literature All writers, without exception, love to use it. They do this in order to decorate their works, making them more emotional, bright, and full.

And this is not at all surprising, because without this stylistic figure and others like it, any work would be empty, boring and absolutely uninteresting. It is unlikely that such works would capture the reader’s attention, exciting his imagination, evoking in him numerous vivid emotions.

Hyperbole, in turn, helps to achieve such necessary effects. So what is a hyperbole in ? This artistic medium Images, based on an excessive exaggeration of reality.

Advice! Another definition of hyperbole is exaggeration to the point of implausibility, so it is very important to remember and keep in mind that it does not need to be taken literally!

What is hyperbole used for?

They free the reader from the confines of reality and attribute supernatural characteristics natural phenomena and people. Hyperbole in literature does not play a role at all last role, since it makes our speech more lively and allows us to feel the emotional and state of mind narrator or author of the text.

This allows them to clearly and correctly convey the verbal atmosphere of the story. The function of hyperbole as a technique is - add brightness, emotionality and persuasiveness to the text. It is also often used by humor writers to create comic images for characters in their works, allowing the reader’s imagination to revive them in his imagination. .

How to find a hyperbole in a text?

Completing the task “find hyperbolas in the text” is quite simple, since among all the others speech patterns they stand out because they contain obvious exaggerations. Examples of usage: “this girl had eyes the size of saucers in surprise” or “this dog was the size of an elephant.”

All these phrases are apparent exaggeration of reality, because you won’t meet a girl with such big eyes or a dog the size of an elephant, because such simply do not exist and cannot exist in nature. These are the most simple examples the use of the stylistic device in question in the Russian literary language.

Attention! To find hyperbole in a text, it is enough to pay attention to an obvious significant exaggeration.

What is hyperbole in Russian?

Linguistics names any excessive exaggeration of properties, qualities, phenomena or actions to create a spectacular and attention-grabbing created image hyperbole . It is used not only in literary language.

In ordinary colloquial speech, she is also a frequent guest. The difference between the first option and the second is that in his speech a person uses already existing statements, and the writer strives to create his own, exclusive statement in order to highlight own work from many others.

Examples

Examples of hyperbole from literary and colloquial speech:

• "rivers of blood";
• “You’re always late”;
• “mountains of corpses”;
• “haven’t seen each other for a hundred years”;
• "scare to death";
• “I told you a hundred times”;
• “a million apologies”;
• “a sea of ​​ripened wheat”;
• “I’ve been waiting forever”;
• “I stood there all day”;
• “at least get wet”;
• “a house a thousand kilometers away”;
• "always late."

Examples in fiction

We can say that everything classical works rely on the transfer of the author’s emotions to the reader, who moves him into a situation created by himself. Hyperbole in literature, in classical works very actively used by many famous authors.

Hyperbole (literature)

Hyperbola(_gr. ὑπερβολή, “transition, exaggeration”) - stylistic figure obvious and deliberate exaggeration in order to enhance expressiveness and emphasize the idea being said, for example, “I have said this a thousand times” or “we have enough food for six months.”

Hyperbole is often combined with other stylistic devices, giving them an appropriate coloring: hyperbolic comparisons, metaphors, etc. (“the waves rose like mountains”). The character or situation portrayed may also be hyperbolic. Hyperbole is also characteristic of the rhetorical and oratorical style, as a means of pathetic elation, as well as the romantic style, where pathos comes into contact with irony. Among Russian authors, Gogol is especially prone to hyperbole, and among poets, Mayakovsky.

Examples

Phraseologisms and winged words

* "sea of ​​tears"
* “quick as lightning”, “lightning fast”
* "numerous as the sand on the seashore"
* “We haven’t seen each other for a hundred years!”
* “The (drunk) sea is knee-deep [and the puddle is head-deep]”
* “Whoever remembers the old - look out! And whoever forgets, both!”

Ancient examples

Give me a fulcrum and I will move the Earth.

Hyperbolic metaphors in the Gospel

* “Why do you look at the straw in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye?” (Gospel of Matthew 7:1-3). In this figurative picture, a critical person proposes to take the straw out of his neighbor’s “eye.” The critic wants to say that his neighbor does not see clearly and therefore is not able to judge sensibly, while the critic himself is prevented from judging sensibly by a whole log.
* On another occasion, Jesus condemned the Pharisees for being “blind guides, straining out gnats and swallowing up camels” (Matthew 23:24). Additionally, Jesus knew that the Pharisees strained their wine through a cloth. These rule-breakers did this to avoid accidentally swallowing a mosquito and thereby becoming ceremoniously unclean. At the same time, they figuratively swallowed a camel, which was also considered unclean (Leviticus 11:4, 21-24).
* “Faith the size of a [tiny] mustard seed” that could move a mountain is a way of emphasizing that even a little faith can do a lot (Matthew 17:20).
* The camel is trying to pass through the eye of the needle - also a hyperbole of Jesus Christ, which clearly shows how difficult it is for a rich man, leading a materialistic lifestyle, to try to serve God. (Gospel of Matthew 19:24).

Classics of Marxism

What a lump, huh? What a seasoned little man!

Prose

...Ivan Nikiforovich, on the contrary, has trousers with such wide folds that if they were inflated, the entire yard with a barn and buildings could be placed in them...

A million Cossack caps suddenly poured onto the square...

For one hilt of my saber they give me the best herd and three thousand sheep.

And at that very moment there were couriers, couriers, couriers on the streets... can you imagine, thirty-five thousand couriers alone!

Poems, songs

And if I were a black man of advanced years,
and then without despondency and laziness,
I would learn Russian just because
that Lenin spoke to them.

I would eat bureaucracy like a wolf.
There is no respect for mandates...

Friends, I will go out to meet a bear without fear,
If I am with a friend, and the bear is without a friend.

About our meeting - what can I say,
I was waiting for her, as they wait natural Disasters,
But you and I immediately began to live,
Without fear of harmful consequences! "(2 times) "
…
What I asked for, I did instantly,
To me each hour I wanted to do wedding night,
Because of you I jumped in front of a train,
But, thank God, it was not entirely successful... "(2 times)"

...And if you had waited for me that year,
When I was sent to the "dacha" [ Country house- bunks (Criminal jargon)] , -
I would steal everything for you firmament
And two Kremlin stars in addition! "(2 times) "

And I swear - I will be the last bastard! -
Don't lie, don't drink - and I will forgive the betrayal!
And I will give you Grand Theatre
AND Small sports arena! "(2 times) "

But now I’m not ready for the meeting -
I'm afraid of you, I'm afraid of intimate nights,
Like residents of Japanese cities
Afraid of repetition Hiroshima. "(2 times) "

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See what “Hyperbole (literature)” is in other dictionaries:

- (Greek υπερβολη) a stylistic figure of obvious and deliberate exaggeration, aimed at enhancing expressiveness, for example. "I've said this a thousand times." Hyperbole is often combined with other stylistic devices, giving them the appropriate... ... Literary encyclopedia

This term has other meanings, see Hyperbole. Hyperbole and its tricks ... Wikipedia

This term has other meanings, see Hyperbole. Hyperbole (from other Greek ὑπερβολή “transition; excess, excess; exaggeration”) is a stylistic figure of obvious and deliberate exaggeration, in order to enhance expressiveness and ... ... Wikipedia

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Literary tropes are artistic devices, words or expressions used by the author to enhance the expressiveness of the text and enhance the imagery of the language.

Tropes include , comparison , epithet , hyperbole , . This article will talk about hyperbole and its antonym - litotes.

Wikipedia says that hyperbole is a word from Greek language and denotes exaggeration. The first part of the word “hyper” is found in many words with the meaning of exaggeration, excess: hypertension, hyperglycemia, hyperthyroidism, hyperfunction.

Hyperbole in literature is artistic exaggeration. In addition, the concept of hyperbola is in geometry, and there it denotes the geometric locus of points.

In this article we will talk about hyperbole with literary point vision. Its definition, how long it has been known, by whom and where it is used. It is found everywhere: in literary works, in oratory, in everyday conversations.

Hyperbole in fiction

It has been known since ancient times. In ancient Russian epics there is often exaggeration when describing heroic heroes and their exploits:

Hyperboles often occur in fairy tales and folk songs: “that’s mine, my heart groans like autumn forest buzzing.”

The author of the ancient Russian story About Prince Vsevolod often uses hyperbole, he writes: “You can sprinkle the Volga with oars, and scoop up the Don with helmets,” to show how numerous his squad is. Here exaggeration is used to exalt the poetic characterization of the prince.

For the same purpose N.V. Gogol uses hyperboles to poetically describe the Dnieper River: “a road, without measure in width, without end in length.” “A rare bird will fly to the middle of the Dnieper.” “And there is no river. equal to him in the world.”

But more often Gogol uses it in his satirical works with irony and humor, ridiculing and exaggerating the shortcomings of his heroes.

Hyperboles in the monologues of the heroes of Gogol’s “The Inspector General”:

• Osip - “It was as if a whole regiment had blown trumpets.”
• Khlestakov - “...Thirty-five thousand couriers alone,” “as I pass... it’s just an earthquake, everything is trembling and shaking,” “the State Council itself is afraid of me.”
• Mayor - “I would grind you all into flour!”

Gogol often uses artistic exaggeration on the pages of his work “Dead Souls.”

"Countless as the sands of the sea, human passions…»

Emotional and loud hyperbole in poetry V. Mayakovsky:

• “The sunset glowed with one hundred and forty suns...”
• “Shine and no nails! This is the slogan of mine and the sun”

In verse A. Pushkin , S. Yesenina and many other poets use artistic exaggeration in describing events and landscape.

"No end in sight

Only blue sucks eyes.”

S. Yesenin

In colloquial speech, exaggeration is used every day without thinking. We especially often resort to it in a state of passion, irritation, so that the interlocutor better understands our feelings.

“I have already called a hundred times, presented thousands of troubles, and almost died of anxiety,”

“I explain it to you twenty times, but you still do it wrong.”

“You’re late again, you’ve waited forever again.”

Sometimes when declaring love:

“I love you like no one can love, more than anyone in the world.”

Litotes and its meaning

Antonym of hyperbole - litotes, artistic understatement. In their colloquial speech, people constantly use both exaggeration and understatement.

Before you have time to blink your eye, life has flown by. When you wait, a second drags on for years. The waist is thin, thinner than a reed.

Hyperbole and litotes, together with other artistic techniques, make Russian speech expressive, beautiful and emotional.

Do not miss: artistic technique in literature and Russian language.

Zooming in and out in fiction

Writers creating artistic text of their work, can realistically describe life, without resorting to exaggeration or understatement of surrounding objects. But some authors understate or exaggerate not only words, but also objects in the surrounding world, creating a fantastic, unreal world.

A striking example serves Lewis Carroll's fairy tale "Alice in Wonderland". The heroine of a fairy tale finds herself in a world where she and all the heroes she meets change their sizes. Authors need this technique to express their thoughts and views on certain problems and suggest ways to eradicate them. You can remember “Gulliver in the Land of Lilliput” by Jonathan Swift.

Writers with a satirical, romantic and heroic orientation in their work often resort to fantasy. It is creative, original, invented by the author, but based on the real social and living conditions of the authors. The writer creates fantastic work, but his situations have something in common with real events.

When the social reality that gave rise to the creation of this fantastic work passes, the new generation no longer understands everything where such fantastic inventions came from.

Hyperbole and litotes make a literary text more expressive and help convey emotions more accurately. Without them creative work it would be boring and faceless. Not only the authors, but also ordinary people in everyday conversations they cannot do without them, although they do not know their names, but simply emotionally express their feelings and thoughts.