What is prosopopoeia?
What Does prosopopoeia Mean
The notion of prosopopeya comes from the Greek word prosōpopoiḯa . The term is used in the field of rhetoric to refer to a literary figure that allows attributes of human beings to animals or plants .
The concept is also used to endow abstract or inanimate elements with the characteristics of an animate being . The resource, known even as personification , is very common in the field of cinema and literature .
Many Walt Disney creatures show prosopopoeia. Take the case of Mickey Mouse and Minnie : these rodents walk on two legs, talk and wear clothes. These peculiarities can also be noticed in other characters such as Donald Duck , Goofy and many more.
The prosopopoeia is one of the pillars of "Farm Rebellion" , a novel written by Englishman George Orwell . In this story released in 1945 , farm animals rebel against people and even establish their own system of government, which ends up becoming a dictatorship . Through talking pigs, horses, donkeys, sheep, and other animals, Orwell turned to prosopopoeia to construct an allegory and criticize Soviet totalitarianism .
As for objects that come to life through prosopopeia, it is possible to find them in various fairy tales in which there are spells or magical practices of this type. In "Beauty and the Beast" , for example, there are a candlestick, a clock , a kettle, a cup and a feather duster that reason, move by themselves, talk, and so on.