Procatalepsis
Figure of speech / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Procatalepsis, also called prolepsis or prebuttal, is a figure of speech in which the speaker raises an objection to their own argument and then immediately answers it. By doing so, the speaker hopes to strengthen the argument by dealing with possible counterarguments before the audience can raise them.[1]
In rhetoric, anticipating future responses and answering possible objections sets up one's argument for a strong defense. The Columbia Dictionary of Modern Literary and Cultural Criticism states that there are three distinct theoretical uses of prolepsis: argumentation, literary discussion, and conjunction with narratological analyses of the order of events.[2][page needed]
In argumentation, procatalepsis is used to answer the opponent's possible objections before they can be made. In literary discussion, procatalepsis is used as a figure of speech in which a description is used before it is strictly applicable. Sayings such as "I'm a dead man" exemplify the suggestion of a state that has not yet occurred. In narratological analyses, prolepsis can be used with the order of events and presentation of events in texts. That refers to the study of narrative in respect to "flashforwards" in which a future event serves as an interruption of the present time of the text.[2]
Example:
"It is difficult to see how a pilot boat could be completely immune to capsizing or plunging, but pilot boat design criteria must meet the needs of the industry and pilotage authorities."
As a linguistic phenomenon found in both classic and current languages, prolepsis is described as the construction whereby the subject of a subordinate clause occurs by anticipation as an object in the main clause.[3] Although that definition is strictly technical as used in linguistics, it has also been used to describe the more general phenomenon of objects or phrases appearing earlier than intended or expected.