Hysteron proteron is a rhetorical technique that reverses chronological order in literature and communication for poetic effect or idiomatic construction. It can be used to confuse or as part of a larger circus-type method. It is used in the works of Homer and modern fiction. It can also be idiomatic, such as wearing shoes before socks. As visual storytelling becomes more popular, hysteron proteron may increase in popularity for creating intriguing outcomes.
Hysteron proteron is a rhetorical technique used in some types of literature and other communications that involves reversing a chronological sequence to reverse a sentence. This technique can be used for poetic effect, or in the construction of various idioms in a given language. It is part of a larger category of rhetorical reversals that some call hyperbato. The word hyperbaton comes from the Greek word for transposition.
As a kind of hyperbate, the hysteron proteron can be used simply to confuse the audience. This technique is sometimes part of a larger “circus-type” method of communication that deliberately alters speech by reversing words or phrases. This is not the only use of the proteron hysteron, but it is common in its use in performance art. This type of inversion contrasts with other more complete uses of this technique in a communication or artwork.
Another use of the hysteron proteron is in the literature. Academics often point to the inclusion of this technique in the works of Homer, a famous epic writer who wrote the Odyssey, long considered a classic of literature. In this epic work, the author structures the narrative in a particular way to reverse chronological events. When writers do this in modern literature or film, the leaps in the narrative are commonly called “flashbacks” or “flashforwards.” This technique can be a compelling part of modern fiction.
In some cases, hysteron proteron is simply idiomatic. A common example that is often given in English is someone saying that he will wear “shoes and socks”. Logically, the socks should be worn first. That’s why inverting the sentence and putting shoes before socks is a classic example of hysteron proteron, which in this case seems to be done to optimize the flow of speech and possibly for idiomatic effect.
Many who study the hysteron proteron phenomenon are pursuing its use in a larger narrative as discussed above. The emergence of more visual storytelling methods in the twenty-first century seems to integrate ideas such as reversing chronological events into telling a story. As modern audiences become more sophisticated in narrative analysis, it seems likely that hysteron proteron and other similar techniques will increase in popularity, where artists will use the disorder of events to create a more intriguing outcome.
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