Polemic is a literary device that allows the authors to write strong and often controversial arguments designed to provoke the reader’s beliefs, values, or perspectives, and challenge them This article discusses polemic, how important it is in literature, and some notable examples, as well as related terms.
Definition of Polemic
A polemic is a strong, passionate argument against an idea, person or institution, usually written to antagonize or influence the public opinion. Polemical writing takes a firm stance, more bold language and little tolerance of opposing views.
This term is used in essays, editorials, speeches and literature. It is a powerful tool for conveying dissent, revealing social injustice or pushing for change.
Common Examples of Polemic
- The author’s latest book is a polemic against corporate greed and environmental destruction.
- Her article was a sharp polemic that called out government policies on healthcare.
- The novel serves as a polemic challenging traditional gender roles and stereotypes.
- Her speech was a polemic against the education system, denouncing its failure to support underprivileged students.
- The novel became widely recognized as a polemic that criticized society’s obsession with wealth and status.
- His essay served as a polemic, passionately opposing the government’s policies on climate change.
Importance of Polemic
Polemic is very important in literature because it promotes discussion and debate on some very important social, political or moral issues. Polemical writing provides the authors with a means to express powerful criticisms, challenge dominant ideologies, and get readers to think critically.
This way of writing puts the audience into a conversation with controversial viewpoints that incite awareness and spark change. Polemic’s provocative nature lends it well to address issues that might otherwise get overlooked.
Polemic adds to literary diversity, both in its embrace of a wide range of voices and perspectives, particularly those challenging the settled norms.
It encourages the intellectual engagement and allows the authors to explore themes of justice, identity and human rights with bluntness. This also enhances the literary landscape and empowers the authors to use their works as a platform for advocacy and activism.
Examples of Polemic in Literature
Example#1
“A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift
“I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee or a ragout.”
This satirical essay mocks with a shocking polemic by implying that the poor Irish people sell their children to the rich for the food.
This is an absurd thing to suggest as it ridicules the British government’s exploitation and neglect of the Irish people. Using dark humor and irony, the author polemicizes how social and political apathy to poverty is so normal.
Example#2
“The Communist Manifesto” by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
“The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.”
In this opening line, the polemic has been set: society is based on an immanent distinction between oppressor and oppressed classes. In this piece of work, Marx and Engels use the manifesto to attack capitalist structures and push for a proletarian revolution.
This work is one of the most influential polemics in political and social thought, for its direct language and uncompromising posture toward class conflict and economic inequality.
Example#3
“The Jungle” by Upton Sinclair
“I aimed at the public’s heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach.”
The novel was a polemic against the horrifying working conditions and unsanitary practices that were prevalent in the American meatpacking industry. The author wrote this piece of work in order to inspire outrage and reform by detailing the exploitation and suffering of the immigrant workers.
The novel is a powerful example of polemic writing designed to evoke social change because of the visceral descriptions and stark portrayals of injustice.
Example#4
“1984” by George Orwell
“War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.”
It is a dystopian novel, a polemic against totalitarianism and state sponsored propaganda. The author criticizes the authoritarian regimes, and the threats to society of censorship and surveillance, by creating a world in which oppressive slogans and contradictory beliefs prevail.
This is a warning of the loss of individual freedom, and of the nature of truth and power, and readers arewonder about them.
Example#5
“The Rights of Man” by Thomas Paine
“When it shall be said in any country in the world, my poor are happy, neither ignorance nor distress is to be found among them; my jails are empty of prisoners, my streets of beggars…then may that country boast its constitution and government.”
Paine’s polemic challenges oppressive monarchies and advocates for the rights of man and for a form of democratic governance.
In this work, the author denounces such governments as those that permit misery and inequality, and for reform. His rhetoric is passionate and compelling; he urges readers to subscribe to the ideas of liberty and equality.
Example#6
“Civil Disobedience” by Henry David Thoreau
“Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison.”
Thoreau’s essay is a polemic that condemns government injustices in the form of slavery and the Mexican-American War. He says people are morally obliged to disobey unjust laws. Thoreau’s polemic calls on its readers to ask questions of authority and place the ethical over the legal.
Check also: Portmanteau Examples in Literature
Example#7
“On the Duty of Civil Disobedience” by Henry David Thoreau
“I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government. Let every man make known what kind of government would command his respect, and that will be one step toward obtaining it.”
The essay is a polemic for the primacy of moral integrity over blind obedience to government. He lambasts governments that act unjustly, urging people to choose justice over compliance.
The author calls on readers to critically reflect upon authority in arguments against the Mexican–American War and slavery, which indicates the necessity of conscience and resistance to unjust laws.
Example#8
“Uncle Tom’s Cabin” by Harriet Beecher Stowe
“Scenes of blood and cruelty are shocking to our ear and heart. What man has nerve to do, man has not nerve to hear.”
The vivid depictions of the brutal realities of slavery in Uncle Tom’s Cabin serve as a polemic against slavery as an institution and its moral consequences.
The author seeks to provoke feelings of cruelty and injustice in enslaved people and to stir readers with opposition to slavery. With its powerful authorship, this novel did much to swing public opinion on abolition.
polemic vs apologetic
The words “polemic” and “apologetic” are two conflicting methods of argumentation and literature. A polemic is a strong argument, often combative, to influence or persuade by attacking or resisting a specific idea, institution or practice employing energetic and stalwart language and a strong position.
On the other hand, an apologetic stance is one that defends or justifies a position with a tendency to explain, rationalize or mitigate what might be viewed as criticism.
Polemics attempts to provoke and challenge by not being apologetic — by unapologetically tearing down opposing viewpoints; apologetic writing is the exact opposite, seeking support, clarification, and defense in an attempt to be reconciliatory.
Related Terms to Polemic
1- Diatribe
It is a diatribe, a forceful and bitter verbal or written attack on someone or something. A diatribe is usually more personal and abrasive and always passionate and its tone is often polemical.
Diatribes are hyper-focus on the many flaws, injustices of their subject – usually quite harshly. Mark Twain’s essays often contain diatribes against hypocrisy and organized religion.
2- Invective
Invective is the abuse of language, an emotionally charged language used to attack or insult a person, idea, or institution. Invective is not a polemic, which is usually used to convince someone or provoke thought.
It is a direct and scornful language, designed to express contempt and not reasoned argument. In works, such as “Gulliver’s Travels”, the author uses the harsh language to ridicule and criticize human absurdity and social flaws with his harsh language.
See also: Literary Devices That Start With P
