Purple prose: Difference between revisions
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In [[literary criticism]], '''purple prose''' is overly ornate [[prose]] text that may disrupt a [[narrative]] flow by drawing undesirable attention to its own extravagant style of writing, thereby diminishing the appreciation of the prose overall.<ref>{{cite web |title=A Word a Day – purple prose |url=http://www.wordsmith.org/words/purple_prose.html |website=Wordsmith.org |access-date=26 December 2014}}</ref> Purple prose is characterized by the excessive use of adjectives, adverbs, and [[metaphor]]s. When it is limited to certain passages, they may be termed '''purple patches''' or '''purple passages''', standing out from the rest of the work. |
In [[literary criticism]], '''purple prose''' is overly ornate [[prose]] text that may disrupt a [[narrative]] flow by drawing undesirable attention to its own extravagant style of writing, thereby diminishing the appreciation of the prose overall.<ref>{{cite web |title=A Word a Day – purple prose |url=http://www.wordsmith.org/words/purple_prose.html |website=Wordsmith.org |access-date=26 December 2014}}</ref> Purple prose is characterized by the excessive use of adjectives, adverbs, and [[metaphor]]s. When it is limited to certain passages, they may be termed '''purple patches''' or '''purple passages''', standing out from the rest of the work. |
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Purple prose is criticized for desaturating the meaning in an author's text by overusing melodramatic and fanciful descriptions. As there is no precise rule or absolute definition of what constitutes purple prose, deciding if a text, passage, or complete work has fallen victim is |
Purple prose is criticized for desaturating the meaning in an author's text by overusing melodramatic and fanciful descriptions. As there is no precise rule or absolute definition of what constitutes purple prose, deciding if a text, passage, or complete work has fallen victim is subjective. According to [[Paul West (writer, born 1930)|Paul West]], "It takes a certain amount of sass to speak up for prose that's rich, succulent and full of novelty. Purple is immoral, undemocratic and insincere; at best artsy, at worst the exterminating angel of depravity."<ref>{{cite news|last1=West|first1=Paul|title=In Defense of Purple Prose|journal=The New York Times|date=15 December 1985|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/12/15/books/in-defense-of-purple-prose.html?pagewanted=2|access-date=26 December 2014}}</ref> |
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==Origins== |
==Origins== |
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The term ''purple prose'' is derived from a reference by the Roman poet [[Horace]]<ref name="Nixon">{{cite book |last=Nixon |first=Cheryl |title=Novel Definitions |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XTY6q_hIa90C&pg=PA194|access-date=19 May 2013 |publisher=Broadview Press |isbn=978-1770482074 |pages=194– |date=2008}}</ref><ref name="Macrone1994">{{cite book |last=Macrone|first=Michael|title=It's Greek to Me |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-ohlxXHpEK8C&pg=PA147 |access-date=19 May 2013 |date=1994 |publisher=HarperCollins |isbn=978-0062720443 |pages=147–}}</ref> (Quintus Horatius Flaccus, 65–8 BC) who wrote in his ''[[Ars Poetica (Horace)|Ars Poetica]]'' (lines 14–21):<ref name="horace">Horace (18 BC). Ars Poetica. Lines 14–21.</ref> |
The term ''purple prose'' is derived from a reference by the Roman poet [[Horace]]<ref name="Nixon">{{cite book |last=Nixon |first=Cheryl |title=Novel Definitions |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XTY6q_hIa90C&pg=PA194|access-date=19 May 2013 |publisher=Broadview Press |isbn=978-1770482074 |pages=194– |date=2008}}</ref><ref name="Macrone1994">{{cite book |last=Macrone|first=Michael|title=It's Greek to Me |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-ohlxXHpEK8C&pg=PA147 |access-date=19 May 2013 |date=1994 |publisher=HarperCollins |isbn=978-0062720443 |pages=147–}}</ref> (Quintus Horatius Flaccus, 65–8 BC) who wrote in his ''[[Ars Poetica (Horace)|Ars Poetica]]'' (lines 14–21):<ref name="horace">Horace (18 BC). Ars Poetica. Lines 14–21.</ref> |
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== Examples == |
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{{verse translation|lang=la| |
{{verse translation|lang=la| |
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Inceptis grauibus plerumque et magna professis |
Inceptis grauibus plerumque et magna professis |
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Weighty openings and grand declarations often |
Weighty openings and grand declarations often |
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Have one or two |
Have one or two '''purple''' patches tacked on, that gleam |
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Far and wide, when [[Diana (mythology)|Diana]]'s grove and her altar, |
Far and wide, when [[Diana (mythology)|Diana]]'s grove and her altar, |
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The winding stream hastening through lovely fields, |
The winding stream hastening through lovely fields, |
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a sailor in the midst of a shipwreck?{{or?|date=October 2018}}</poem></blockquote></ref> |
a sailor in the midst of a shipwreck?{{or?|date=October 2018}}</poem></blockquote></ref> |
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In 2000, [[Gary Dahl (entrepreneur)|Gary Dahl]] won the [[Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest]], the [[San José State University]]–sponsored competition that awards authors for crafting particularly bad "[[purple prose]]." He defeated over 4,000 entries from all over the world. Dahl's winning entry:<blockquote>The heather-encrusted Headlands, veiled in fog as thick as smoke in a crowded pub, hunched precariously over the moors, their rocky elbows slipping off land's end, their bulbous, craggy noses thrust into the thick foam of the North Sea like bearded old men falling asleep in their pints.<ref>[http://www.bulwer-lytton.com/lyttony.htm Bulwer-Lytton Awards website] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061110114013/http://www.bulwer-lytton.com/lyttony.htm|date=2006-11-10}}; accessed March 31, 2015.</ref></blockquote> |
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==See also== |
==See also== |
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* [[Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest]], to find "the opening sentence to the worst of all possible novels" |
* [[Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest]], to find "the opening sentence to the worst of all possible novels" |
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* [[Concision]], a communication principle of eliminating redundancy |
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* [[Elegant variation]], unnecessary use of synonyms |
* [[Elegant variation]], unnecessary use of synonyms |
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* [[Euphuism]], deliberate excess of literary devices fashionable in 1580s English prose |
* [[Euphuism]], deliberate excess of literary devices fashionable in 1580s English prose |
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* [[Order of the Occult Hand]], |
* [[Order of the Occult Hand]], a group of journalists who sneak the phrase "It was as if an occult hand had…" into published copy |
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* [[Verbosity]], in which a speech or writing uses more words than is necessary |
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== |
== Notes == |
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{{Reflist}} |
{{Reflist}} |
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* |
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== References == |
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{{wiktionary}} |
{{wiktionary}} |
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[[Category:Descriptive technique]] |
[[Category:Descriptive technique]] |
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[[Category:Horace]] |
[[Category:Horace]] |
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[[Category:Purple|prose]] |
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Latest revision as of 22:18, 16 November 2024
In literary criticism, purple prose is overly ornate prose text that may disrupt a narrative flow by drawing undesirable attention to its own extravagant style of writing, thereby diminishing the appreciation of the prose overall.[1] Purple prose is characterized by the excessive use of adjectives, adverbs, and metaphors. When it is limited to certain passages, they may be termed purple patches or purple passages, standing out from the rest of the work.
Purple prose is criticized for desaturating the meaning in an author's text by overusing melodramatic and fanciful descriptions. As there is no precise rule or absolute definition of what constitutes purple prose, deciding if a text, passage, or complete work has fallen victim is subjective. According to Paul West, "It takes a certain amount of sass to speak up for prose that's rich, succulent and full of novelty. Purple is immoral, undemocratic and insincere; at best artsy, at worst the exterminating angel of depravity."[2]
Origins
[edit]The term purple prose is derived from a reference by the Roman poet Horace[3][4] (Quintus Horatius Flaccus, 65–8 BC) who wrote in his Ars Poetica (lines 14–21):[5]
Inceptis grauibus plerumque et magna professis |
Weighty openings and grand declarations often |
See also
[edit]- Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, to find "the opening sentence to the worst of all possible novels"
- Concision, a communication principle of eliminating redundancy
- Description, one of four rhetorical modes, along with exposition, argumentation, and narration
- Elegant variation, unnecessary use of synonyms
- Euphuism, deliberate excess of literary devices fashionable in 1580s English prose
- Order of the Occult Hand, a group of journalists who sneak the phrase "It was as if an occult hand had…" into published copy
- Verbosity, in which a speech or writing uses more words than is necessary
Notes
[edit]- ^ "A Word a Day – purple prose". Wordsmith.org. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
- ^ West, Paul (15 December 1985). "In Defense of Purple Prose". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
- ^ Nixon, Cheryl (2008). Novel Definitions. Broadview Press. pp. 194–. ISBN 978-1770482074. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
- ^ Macrone, Michael (1994). It's Greek to Me. HarperCollins. pp. 147–. ISBN 978-0062720443. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
- ^ Horace (18 BC). Ars Poetica. Lines 14–21.
- ^ Kline, A. S. (2005). "Horatti Flacci Ars Poetica – epistulae 3". Retrieved June 17, 2019.
- ^ Alternative translation:
Your opening shows great promise, and yet flashy
purple patches; as when describing
a sacred grove, or the altar of Diana,
or a stream meandering through fields,
or the river Rhine, or a rainbow;
but this was not the place for them. If you can realistically render
a cypress tree, would you include one when commissioned to paint
a sailor in the midst of a shipwreck?[original research?]
References
[edit]- Coles Editorial Board, Dictionary of Literary Terms, Rama Brothers, 2001.
