On this occasion I will share with you about what I learned in the course "English Litearture". I take this material from blogs that I think can be trusted and can help us all to deepen our learning process. I hope you enjoy it.
1. Cacophony Definition
If we speak literally, cacophony points to a situation where there is a mixture of harsh and inharmonious sounds. In literature, however, the term refers to the use of words with sharp, harsh, hissing and unmelodious sounds primarily those of consonants to achieve desired results.
2. Common Cacophony Examples
In everyday life, one of the examples of cacophony would be the amalgamation of different sounds you hear in a busy city street or market. You hear sounds of vehicles, announcements on loudspeakers, music, and chatter of people or even a dog barking at the same time and without any harmony. You can rightly point to the situation as being the cacophony of a busy street or market. We can notice the manifestation of cacophony in language as well; for instance in the sentence:
“I detest war because cause of war is always trivial.”
The part “because cause” is cacophony as because is followed by a word cause that has a similar sound but different meaning. Generally, it sounds unpleasant as the same sound is repeated in two different words.
Similarly, a discordant sound of a musical band, tuning up their musical instruments, is also an example of cacophony.3. Cacophony and Euphony
Cacophony is opposite to euphony which is the use of words having pleasant and harmonious effects. Generally, the vowels, semi-vowels and the nasal consonants e.g. l, m, n, r, y are considered to be euphonious. Cacophony, on the other hand, uses consonants in combinations which requires explosive delivery e.g., p, b, d, g, k, ch-, sh- etc.4. Examples of Cacophony in Literature
In literature, the unpleasantness of cacophony is utilized by writers to present dreadful or distasteful situations. Let us look at a few Cacophony examples in literature:
Example #1
Abundant use of cacophonic words could be noticed in Lewis Carroll’s nonsense poem “Jabberwocky” in his novel “Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There”:
In the excerpt, we see a collection of nonsense words which are at the same time unmelodious. After reading the poem, “Alice”, the main character of the novel, gives her impression that reflects clearly the purpose of the poem. She says:‘Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,an
And the mome raths outgrabe.“Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!”
“Somehow it seems to fill my head with ideas—only I don’t exactly know what they are! However, somebody killed something: that’s clear, at any rate”.
Example #2
An example of cacophony is found in Hart Crane’s poem “The Bridge”:
The nasal whine of power whips a new universe….Where spouting pillars spoor the evening sky,Under the looming stacks of the gigantic power houseStars prick the eyes with sharp ammoniac proverbs,New verities, new inklings in the velvet hummedOf dynamos, where hearing’s leash is strummed….Power’s script, – wound, bobbin-bound, refined-Is stopped to the slap of belts on booming spools, spurredInto the bulging bouillon, harnessed jelly of the stars.
The disorder and confusion of the industrial world has been expressed here by the writer through deliberate selection of cacophonic words and phrases.
Example #3
Look at the following excerpt from Jonathan Swift’s “Gulliver’s Travel”:“And being no stranger to the art of war, I have him a description of cannons, culverins, muskets, carabines, pistols, bullets, powder, swords, bayonets, battles, sieges, retreats, attacks, undermines, countermines, bombardments, sea-fights…”In order to describe the destructive consequences of war, the writer chooses words and arranges them in an order that they produce an effect that is unmelodious, harsh and jarring that corresponds with the subject matter.
Example #4
Read the following lines from Coleridge’s “Rime to the Ancient Mariner”:“With throats unslaked, with black lips baked,
Agape they heard me call.”
These lines illustrate cacophony by using words black, baked and agape which corresponds with the severity of situation faced by the Mariner and other people on board.
5. Function of Cacophony
Writers use cacophony as a tool to describe a discordant situation using discordant words. The use of such words allows readers to picture and feel the unpleasantness of the situation the writer has described through words.Src : Ld.net
Eo : Ahmad Zaman Huri
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