Definition of synecdoque - What it is, Meaning and Concept

The Latin synecdŏche , which comes from a Greek word, came to our language as sinecdoque .It is a trope that extends, limits or modifies the meaning of a term, naming a part of something as if it were a whole or mentioning the whole with the denomination of one of the parts.

It should be remembered that Troops consist of replacing one word with another that acquires a figurative sense .Tropes, thus, constitute a tool of the rhetoric that allows a term to acquire content that It is not his own.

Taking up the idea of sinecdoque, this trope appeals to different mechanisms to make sense of expressions.One of the most common methods is to name a fragment or a sector of something for the representation of the whole .For example: "If we want to buy two pizzas, we will have to contribute twenty pesos per head" .As you can see, the synecdoque in this case consists in naming a part (the "head" ) to refer to the whole (the person).

The synecdoque also appears in the following expression : "Lucila turned twelve springs" .In this case, the notion of "spring" is used to mean the years: the girl in question turned twelve whole years, including springs, summers, autumn and winters.

In the media , synecdoques are also used frequently.If a sports commentator points out that "Spain beat Croatia 3 to 1" , he will be making mention to teams (the part) that represent countries (the whole).Something similar happens with the journalist who says “The White House is worried about the advance of terrorism” , naming the US government through the expression "White House" .

Although the synecdoque is a rhetorical figure widely used in literary texts, it also has its place in visual media, just as metonymy, metaphor or simile appear.it deals with visual resources that designers routinely use in advertising images, in the comic world, in the tables and in the composition of websites or magazine covers , among many other cases, with the aim of provide figures with a meaning that transcends the literal.

In the specific case of the visual synecdoque, designers substitute or represent the concept they wish to evoke with an image that is inherently connected or intrinsically linked to it.For example, it is very common to see an image of the Eiffel Tower as a symbol of Paris or, depending on the context of France itself; in the same way, the Tower of Pisa can represent Italy and the Statue of Liberty, the United States.

The synecdoque is practically a necessity in the field of visual art, since it would be very little aesthetic and functional to show the satellite photograph of an entire country to refer to it, just as it would be uncreative to only use this image every time.This last point, creativity , is necessary for the development of a synecdoque shocking, but it also feeds on the process.

Like any language resource, its use is not mandatory, but mastering it can open the doors to a very complex and rich communication, which constantly renews the experience of its participants.Taking the example of the Eiffel Tower, it is not always possible use it as a symbol of Paris or France; For example, if the theme of a cover is regional food, little will have to see this structure in the middle of paellas and sushi.

Although in speech it may be less necessary to use rhetorical figures, there is a space for them both in informal and more formal relationships.Also, if we only use literal images, we would probably lack individuality, since it is a through resources as the synecdoque we can distinguish ourselves by expressing ourselves.