Apophasis

For the religious and philosophical sense of the term, seeApophatic theology.

Not to be confused withApophysis (disambiguation),Apoptosis,orApophis (disambiguation).

Apophasis(/əˈpɒfəsɪs/;fromAncient Greekἀπόφασις(apóphasis),fromἀπόφημι(apóphemi)'to say no')is arhetorical devicewherein the speaker or writer brings up a subject by either denying it, or denying that it should be brought up.Accordingly, it can be seen as a rhetorical relative ofirony.

The device is also calledparalipsis(παράλειψις) – also spelledparaleipsisorparalepsis– oroccupatiooroccultatio,and known also aspraeteritio,preterition,orparasiopesis(παρασιώπησις).

Usage

As a rhetorical device, apophasis can serve several purposes. For example, It can be employed to raise anad hominemor otherwise controversial attack while disclaiming responsibility for it, as in, "I refuse to discuss the rumor that my opponent is a drunk." This can make it a favored tactic in politics.

Apophasis can be usedpassive-aggressively,as in, "I forgive you for your jealousy, so I won't even mention what a betrayal it was."

InCicero's "Pro Caelio"speech, he says to a prosecutor,"Obliviscor iam iniurias tuas, Clodia, depono memoriam doloris mei"(" I now forget your wrongs, Clodia, I set aside the memory of my pain [that you caused]. ")

Apophasis can be used to discuss a taboo subject, as in, "We are all fully loyal to the emperor, so we wouldn't dare to claim that hisnew clothesare a transparent hoax. "

As a rhetorical device, it can serve various purposes, often dependent on the relationship of the speaker to the addressee and the extent of their shared knowledge. Apophasis is rarely literal; instead, it conveys meaning through implications that may depend on this context. As an example of how meaning shifts, the English phrase "needless to say" invokes shared understanding, but its actual meaning depends on whether that understanding was really shared. The speaker is alleging that it is not necessary to say something because the addressee already knows it, but this may not be true. If it is, it may merely emphasize a pertinent fact. If the knowledge is weighted with history, it may be an indirect way of levying an accusation ( "needless to say,because you are responsible"). If the addressee does not actually already possess the knowledge, it may be a way to condescend: the speaker suspected as much but wanted to call attention to the addressee's ignorance. Conversely, it could be a sincere and polite way to share necessary information that the addressee may or may not knowwithoutimplying that the addressee is ignorant. For example, to highlight a spelling error, instead of pointing out the error one could simply use the word in passing, spelled correctly.

Apophasis can serve to politely avoid the suggestion of ignorance on the part of an audience, as found in the narrative style of Adso of Melk inUmberto Eco'sThe Name of the Rose,where the character fills in details of early fourteenth-century history for the reader by stating it is unnecessary to speak of them.Conversely, the same introduction can be made sarcastically to condescend to an audience and imply their ignorance.

Another diplomatic use would be to raise a criticism indirectly, as in, "It would be out of line for me to say that this action would be unwise and unaffordable, sir, as I only care about your best interests."

As the rhetorician Jennifer Mercieca has observed, apophasis can be used to deflect criticism. It can also be an effective device for spreading misinformation and conspiracy theories, because speakers can employ it to avoid taking responsibility for what they say.

Examples

When apophasis is taken to its extreme, the speaker provides full details, stating or drawing attention to something in the very act of pretending to pass it over: "I will not stoop to mentioning the occasion last winter when our esteemed opponent was found asleep in an alleyway with an empty bottle of vodka still pressed to his lips."

In thesecond debateof the1984 U.S. presidential campaign,Ronald Reaganused a humorous apophasis to deflect scrutiny of his own fitness at age 73 by replying, "I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes,my opponent's youth and inexperience. "In 1988, he applied a harsher apophasis toward George H. W. Bush's opponentMichael Dukakis,who was rumored to have received psychological treatment, "Look, I'm not going to pick on an invalid."

Former United States PresidentDonald Trumpfrequently employs apophasis.In 2015, Trump said of fellow Republican presidential candidate and formerHewlett-PackardCEOCarly Fiorina,"I promised I would not say that she ran Hewlett-Packard into the ground, that she laid off tens of thousands of people and she got viciously fired. I said I will not say it, so I will not say it."In 2016, he tweeted of journalistMegyn Kelly,"I refuse to call [her] a bimbo because that would not be politically correct."In 2017, aspresident,he tweeted of the leader ofNorth Korea,"Why wouldKim Jong-uninsult me by calling me 'old', when I would NEVER call him 'short and fat'? ".In light of a potential presidential bid by Republican Florida governorRon DeSantis,Trump claimed he would not use the name "Meatball Ron" in reference to him.

DuringProhibition,a grape concentrate brick calledVine-Glowas sold with the warning, "After dissolving the brick in a gallon of water, do not place the liquid in a jug away in the cupboard for twenty days, because then it would turn into wine."

See also

• Antiphrasis
• Apophatic theology
• Argument from ignorance
• Argument from silence
• Elephant in the room
• Glossary of rhetorical terms
• Ironic process theory
• Problem of induction
• Streisand effect
• The lady doth protest too much, methinks
• Unsaid

General and cited references

• Smyth, Herbert Weir (1984) [1920].Greek Grammar.Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. p.680(as paraleipsis).ISBN0-674-36250-0.
• Lanham, Richard A. (1991) [1967].A Handlist of Rhetorical Terms(Second Edition). University of California Press. p. 104 (as occultatio). ISBN 9780520273689

External links

• Figures of rhetoric:Apophasis
• A Handbook of Rhetorical Devices:Apophasis
• Wordsmith:Paralipsis