The epanalysis is a rhetorical means of word repetition, which is used in all literary genres. The epanalysis refers to the fact that a word or a group of words is repeated immediately at the beginning or end of the sentence. By repeating individual elements, it has a reinforcing effect. The epanalysis is related to Geminatio, Epizeuxis, and Anadiplosis.
The term can be derived from the Greek noun epanalepsis (ἐπανάληψις) and translated with resumption. Consequently, the translation of the stylistic figure already points to the fundamental point: namely, the re-acquisition of a word or sequence of words already mentioned [immediately successively at the beginning or end of the sentence]. Let’s take an example:
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
The above example shows how the evangelist formulates the last words of Jesus. The example, which is regarded as a form of Exclamation (Exclamation), contains at the outset a repetition of the sequence of words My God. Since the called God is not physically present here, the salutation can also be regarded as an apostrophe.
An epanalysis is because the word sequence My God is repeated immediately at the beginning of the sentence. Since there is no interruption, ie, no other word is interposed, it is a form of doubling. This is called Geminatio, which is a special form of the epanalysis. However, epanalpses may also be interposed:
And he took a long breath and breathed deeply
This example is taken from a stanza of the ballad The diver of the poet Friedrich Schiller. Here, the word sequence is repeated and breathed immediately at the beginning of the verse. What is crucial here is that it is also an epanalysis, although a word stands between the repetition (long). What is essential is therefore only the unambiguous recording of a word sequence, not whether there is yet another word in between.
Let the whirlwind,
Let’s go, child, let us go!
The example cited is from the work Leonore by Gottfried August Bürger, a poet who is accounted for by Sturm und Drang. What is decisive here is that the sentence is continued over two verses, which is evident from the punctuation (punctuation). At the end of the sentence, the resumption of the sequence of words can be heard again, with an insert (child). This too is an epanalysis.
Note: It is therefore essential for the stylistic figure to re-record a word sequence or word already used. This can be the case both at the beginning of the sentence and at the end of the sentence. Intermediate circuits are also possible. There are several overlaps to other styles.
Special form of epanalysis: anadiplosis
The anadiplosis is a special form of the epanalysis. The anadiplose means that a word or a word sequence is at the end of a sentence and is picked up immediately at the beginning of the next sentence. The repeated elements are separated by a punctuation mark.
You want to be a friend to me? Be a friend in good times and in bad times?
In the example above, the word sequence forms a friend of the first sentence and immediately forms the beginning of the following sentence. This acceptance in subsequent sentences is called an anadiplosis and usually has a reinforcing effect or the effect of unequivocally exposing the essential.
Short overview: The most important thing about the Stilfigur at a glance
The epanalysis is a rhetorical stylistic device. It describes the resumption of an already used word sequence at the beginning or at the end of a sentence. Intermediate words, ie, interpositions between the repetitions, are common, even if the repetition must be clear and a neighborhood must be recognizable.
Like other stylistic devices that repeat something, epanalpses have a reinforcing effect. Furthermore, they can direct the attention of the recipient (reader, listener) to the repeated, and are therefore urgent, which is why they are often used in speeches.