Samuel Butler And The Meaning Of Chiasmus (paperback Or Softback)

I wish to thank Ruth Gounelas for comments on an early version of the manuscript and for permission to quote from her dissertation. It was also she who brought Butler to my attention at a time when I had not yet decided which author to choose for this study. To my friends at Linacre College, particularly John Bamborough, I am grateful for stimulating discussions and generous encouragement. I am indebted to Linacre College, Oxford, and to Harvard University for academic hospitality; and to the Finnish Academy and the H. W. Donner fund for financial assistance. Except for the final draft, this book was written in the winter of 1980--1 while I was at Linacre. Now, in the autumn of 1983, I have been able to resume my investigations of symmetry, and to extend them to the works of some American authors. For this opportunity I am very grateful to the American Council of Learned Societies, the United States Educational Foundation in Finland, the Ford Foundation, and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Finally I wish to thank my wife, Eva-Liisa, whose help has, as usual, been invaluable. ## Cambridge, Massachusetts Ralf Norrman ix chiasticist such as Butler it is eminently true -and eminently demonstrable -that 'Ie style est l'homme'. Rhetorical figures do not get into authors' texts by chance. Most authors probably have a command of most rhetorical figures. But some authors use certain figures more often than other figures, and they use these figures more often than other authors use them. An understanding of the psyche of an author can explain why he favours certain figures; conversely, by observing which figures he favours, one may learn something about the psyche of an author. The ambition of the present work is to help chart what we may call the 'psychomorphology' of chiasticistic thinking. It is not likely that the psycho morphological profile of every chiasmus-addict will be exactly the same. But probably a case-study of one chiasticist will reveal features that are characteristic not only of him, but also, to a varying degree, of other individuals of the species. There are many authors with a well-known love of symmetry whom one could choose for a study such as the present one. Lewis Carroll, for instance, with his constant preoccupation with mirror-phenomena, would be worth consideration. As could be expected, chiasmus is a fairly prominent feature of his style. The best choice for the moment, however, must surely be Samuel Butler . It is difficult to find any author, from any period or country, who is so extraordinarily obsessed with chiasmus as Butler. He uses chiasmus constantly. His texts abound in chiastic sentences. His thought is dominated by chiastic structuring. He fits whatever he can into the chiastic pattern and usually denies the existence of other patterns. The leading ideas of practically all his books have their origin in the chiastic formula. All his scientific doctrines derive from his obsession with chiasmus. It is hardly an exaggeration to say that everything he observed went through a chiastic filter, so that he took in only what chiasmus let through. Once the pattern emerges it becomes easy to go even further than this, and see the influence of chiasmus also in the biographical material. It may seem here that some very large claims are being made, and that 'psychomorphology' is a pompous word. This is all quite deliberate. The facts of the case are so extraordinary that these kinds of claims, and this kind of term, both seem called for. I believe that a knowledge of the way the mechanism of chiasmus functions can be used as a map to Butler's mental landscape. And I believe that, without exaggeration, one can argue that whoever understands chiasmus will also understand Butler. 'Woe unto you when all men speak well of you': Yes, and 'Woe unto you when you speak well of all men.' (Ibid., p. 260) Front Matter....Pages i-ix Chiasmus and Samuel Butler: an Introductory Sketch....Pages 1-34 The Psychomorphology of Chiasticism....Pages 35-148 Chiasticism in Some of Butler’s Works....Pages 149-238 Chiasmus and Butler’s Life....Pages 239-274 Conclusion....Pages 275-275 Back Matter....Pages 276-315