Literary
Terms
Anachronism
Anachronism is derived from the Greek word
anachronous, which means “against time.” Therefore, an anachronism is an error
of chronology or timeline in a literary piece. In other words, anything that is
out of time and out of place is an anachronism.
Anachronisms
appear in literature, paintings, and other works. Generally, they are
considered errors that occur due to lack of research. For example, if a painter
paints a portrait of Aristotle, and shows him wearing a wrist watch, it would
be an example of anachronism, as we are all aware that wristwatches did not
exist during Aristotle’s time. Similarly, the presence of a wall clock in a
stage setting that depicts the interior of a Roman fort is an anachronism. This
could include simple things like a historical film putting the wrong type of
weapon in the hands of the soldiers, or it could be extreme inaccuracies such
as having cavemen fight dinosaurs. The point is that the story shows something
happening at a time when it would be impossible, or at least extremely
unlikely, for that thing to happen.
Anachronisms
make a work seem “fake” and unrealistic. If readers encounter something that
they know to be impossible, they’ll suddenly be taken out of the story. They
reflect poorly on the author, since they suggest that he or she was just too
lazy to do the necessary research.
Generally,
an anachronism is considered an unintentional error that is a result of a
writer’s carelessness, and his lack of research. At times, however, it is
employed in order to produce a special artistic effect, in order to attract the
attention of the readers by an appropriate use of anachronism.
Examples:
King
Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, in plate armor, wielding broadswords
and large shields, is an anachronism, because full plate armor was not used
until at least the 13th century AD, hundreds of years after King Arthur died
(around 550 AD). The real King Arthur probably wore chain mail or hardened
leather armor, and lived in an earth-and-wood fort instead of a stone castle.
William
Shakespeare has Cleopatra play billiards, a game that didn’t exist until over
1,000 years after her death.
If Shakespeare
is shown sitting in a café in Brooklyn, typing out Macbeth on his laptop. This
would be a deliberate anachronism, since everyone knows Shakespeare never owned
a computer.
Virgil’s
Aeneid (written around the year 20 BC) begins with the events of the Trojan
War. In the aftermath of the war, as Troy burns, the hero flees to Carthage.
However, Troy was sacked sometime around 1200 BC, and Carthage was not founded
until about 200-400 years later.
Several
critics have raised concerns about anachronisms in the Bible, for example the
presence of camels at the time of Abraham. Current archaeological evidence
suggests that camels did not appear in the Holy Land until around 1,000 BC,
several centuries after Abraham is believed to have died. To most Christians
and Jews, of course, such anachronisms do not matter – the minute details of
the Bible are not as important to them as its spiritual and ethical message.
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