Editor's Corner

Good day, everyone. Today I have another rhetorical device for us to learn about: analepsis. No, it’s not the three dots in a row; that’s an ellipsis. From Merriam-Webster, analepsis is:

A literary technique that involves interruption of the chronological sequence of events by interjection of events or scenes of earlier occurrence: flashback

Really? A twenty-two-word, fancy-dance description for flashback? Okay, I’m being cranky, but that’s what it is. Finding examples of analepsis was not so easy, and honestly, the best search results I got were from AI. Sorry AI-haters.

Before we look at examples, here are some reasons you might want to use a flashback in your creative writing, not your technical writing.

Reasons for flashbacks:

• Providing backstory: Filling in crucial details about characters’ histories, motivations, and the events that shaped them.
• Developing characters: Revealing past experiences that explain characters’ present actions, behaviors, and personalities.
• Establishing context: Giving readers a deeper understanding of the setting, relationships, or cultural nuances of the story.
• Building tension and suspense: Presenting past events that foreshadow future conflicts or reveal secrets relevant to the present storyline.
• Creating empathy: Helping readers connect with characters by understanding the events that influenced their choices and emotional landscape.

And in literature, here are just a few examples:

• Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad: The entire novel is essentially a flashback, with Marlow recounting his journey into the Congo to a group of listeners, creating depth by contrasting past and present. [KC –
  Apocalypse Now is loosely based on this story. I recommend both the book and the movie.]
• The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald: Flashbacks explore Jay Gatsby’s past, including his devotion to Daisy Buchanan, providing context for his motivations and the unfolding drama. [KC – Also a book and a movie, though, I think I’ve enjoyed the history of the book and movie more than the actual media.]
• Night by Elie Wiesel: The memoir utilizes analepsis to convey the author’s harrowing experiences during the Holocaust, emphasizing the lasting impact of the past on the present. [KC – Harrowing, yes. Worth the read, yes.]
• The Three Apples (Arabian Nights): The story begins with the discovery of a dead body, and the murderer later reveals their reasons for the murder in a series of flashbacks, deepening the mystery. [KC – I am not familiar with this, but it sure sounds good!]

Hmmm, looking at these examples I see a lot of grimness in flashbacks. Maybe we should look at Flashdance instead? Nope, I just watched the trailer and it’s pretty dated.

Kara Church | Technical Editor, Advisory | Knowledge Enablement

Pronouns: she/her | Call via Teams | jackhenry.com

Editor’s Corner Archives: https://episystechpubs.com/