THE PLACE AND FUNCTIONAL IMPORTANCE OF METONYMY IN LITERATURE

Abstract

  Annotation Metonymy, long overshadowed in literary theory by its more celebrated counterpart metaphor, occupies a distinct and indispensable place in the architecture of literary language. Unlike metaphor, which operates through similarity and substitution across conceptual domains, metonymy functions through contiguity — the substitution of one entity for another based on a real-world relationship of proximity, causation, part-whole association, or possession. This article examines the theoretical foundations of metonymy, traces its treatment from classical rhetoric through structuralist and cognitive linguistics, and analyzes its functional roles in literary texts: as a device of characterization, a compressor of narrative meaning, a builder of atmosphere and symbolism, and a vehicle for ideological and social commentary. Drawing on examples from prose, poetry, and drama, the article argues that metonymy is not a subordinate trope but a structurally generative force that shapes realist narrative technique in particular, while also contributing to modernist and postmodernist poetics of fragmentation. The article concludes that a fuller appreciation of metonymy's function enriches both the practice of close reading and broader theories of literary meaning-making.