A rhetorical stylistic device, which is used in all literary genres, is designated as hysterone proterone. The hysterone proteron reverses the logical or temporal sequence of an event. Accordingly, a process which occurs later in time is exchanged before the former, or the cause and effect are exchanged. The stylistic means of anachronism is related.
The term is derived from the ancient Greek nouns hýsteron (ὕστερον) and próteron (πρότερον), whereby hýsteron can be translated with the later and próteron with the earlier one. As a result, the translation of the word already points to the fundamental meaning: the later is named before the earlier, although it can only happen afterwards. Let’s look at an example.
Her husband is dead and sends you salutations.
The above example is taken from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s Faust and comes from the conversation between Mephistopheles and Marthe. What is essential here is that the death of a person occurs at the end of his life. Whoever is dead can no longer salute. This statement is also ironic, as the dead man in drama actually greets Mephistopheles from the beyond. However, the chronological sequence in the example is exchanged at first glance and appears to be mainly Marthe as a hysterone proterone.
Let us die and plunge into our arms!
The above example is taken from the poem Aeneis by Vergil, a Latin poet. In this case, too, it is a hysterone proteron, since the temporal and logical sequence in the set is interchanged. As a rule, only arms are used to die after them. Not otherwise.
My name is Doris and I am baptized and born and born.
The example is taken by Irmgard Keun, a German writer, and is taken from the work of The Artificial Girl. Here, too, the actual sequence of events occurs. Usually one is born, then the name is fixed and in some cases a baptism takes place afterwards. Doris interchanges this sequence of events in her sentence and thus breaks with the chronology.
Hysterone proterone and anachronism
Hystera-protera and anachronisms are related. As anachronism, the wrong temporal classification of events, persons and things or ideas is called. However, this is less about the reversal of a temporal sequence within a few words, but about the conscious or unconscious, incorrect classification of historical connections.
Anachronism can therefore function as a stylistic device if the temporal events are deliberately incorrectly classified as well as stylistic errors. A style defect is the anachronism, if by a lack of knowledge of a time or literaturepoche events are sorted incorrectly. An example:
Aristotle congratulated Columbus on the discovery of America.
In the above example, the discovery of America, which was in 1492, and the lifetime of the Greek philosopher Aristotle, were blended. However Aristotle lived about 350 years v. And thus nearly 1800 years before the discovery of the New World. Thus, historical connections were misassigned, which can be regarded as an anachronism and may be a stylistic mistake.
The main difference between the two figures is that the hysteron proteron is based mainly on the fact that the logical order of events is incorrectly reproduced, whereas the anachronism usually involves a larger time frame and, above all, focuses on historical events.
Short overview: The most important thing about the Stilfigur at a glance
The hysteron-proteron is the reversal of the logical or temporal sequence of an event, the later is called before the former. The hystera protera can be regarded as a set of figures because the syntactic order is broken.
The effect of the stylistic device can be funny on the one hand because it is played with the expectation of the recipient (reader, viewer, listener) and on the other hand the figure can have a surprising effect on the receiver.
It is related to the anachronism. This, however, describes the incorrect temporal classification of events and not just the illogical sequence of events within a sentence or a word sequence, such as the hysteron proteron.
