As with any art form, writing relies on its foundations. No matter how beautiful a novel's description is, the prose will feel disjointed if the fundamentals are flawed. Fortunately, with consistent practice, we can quickly grasp the essential building blocks of literature! One of the cornerstones of successful writing is comprehending literary antecedents, a device in which a pronoun refers back to a previous noun or clause. This concept may sound complex, but once it's broken down, it's pretty simple! Let's look at a definition, some examples, and the importance of the literary antecedent in producing coherent, captivating works of literature.
Literary antecedent definition
What is an antecedent? Here's a simple definition that explains the concept:
A literary antecedent is a device within which a pronoun references a previous clause or noun.
In all cases, the clause or noun that precedes a pronoun is referred to as the 'antecedent'. It can be helpful to remember that the Latin word 'ante' means 'before', so the antecedent is always before the pronoun that refers to it. Think of the words antique, ancestor and anticipate. All of these words derive in part from 'ante', and all are associated with something 'before'!
Here's an example of a literary antecedent to make things more transparent.
In this sentence, 'John' is the main noun, and the pronoun 'his' refers to him without stating his name. As the pronoun refers back to 'John', this makes 'John' the antecedent (the thing before).
In all cases, an antecedent and the word that refers to it must match up in both quantity and gender. Let's look in more detail at these two rules.
Quantity
A pronoun must always match up to the quantity of the antecedent. If there is one antecedent, the pronoun should be singular, and if there are multiple, the pronoun should be plural. Consider this example:
Tyler and Peter enjoy making pasta; his favourite type is penne.
Here, the example specifies Tyler and Peter, but the pronoun is singular and refers to one person. To make the pronoun plural, the writer should state that it is 'their favourite type is penne'. They could also specify that either Tyler or Peter's favourite type is penne.
Gender
It's crucial that a pronoun agrees with the gender of the antecedent. If the pronoun doesn't match up, the sentence looks incorrect. For example:
Tyler was tired of its job at the supermarket.
Referring to Tyler as 'its' feels out of place. The correct pronoun would either account for Tyler's gender (his/hers) or would refer to Tyler as 'their' if they prefer a gender-neutral pronoun, or if their gender is unknown.
Before the 14th century, they/their pronouns were always considered plural and were used when referring to a group of people. For example:
They went to the park.
In the modern day, most style guides now accept the singular version of 'they' as a personal pronoun. This is perfect for situations where the gender is unknown or if someone prefers a gender-neutral pronoun. For example:
Jill went to their favourite café, where they met their best friend.
Literary antecedent types
As covered in the previous section, the basic structure of a literary antecedent is always the same, with a noun being the antecedent to a pronoun. However, nouns and pronouns can come in different forms. Let's look at some possible variations of antecedents.
Noun as an antecedent
This is the simplest form of antecedent, which occurs when the pronoun refers to a singular noun. For example:
Pete drank his orange juice.
The pronoun 'his' refers only to the singular noun 'Pete'.
Demonstrative pronouns
A demonstrative pronoun directs the reader to a specific point in the sentence. The most common demonstrative pronouns are 'this', 'that', 'these', and 'those'. For example:
He stared longingly at the red Ferrari. That was his favourite type of car.
Here 'the red Ferrari' is the antecedent to the demonstrative pronoun 'that'.
Clause as an antecedent
Demonstrative pronouns can also refer to entire clauses. Consider this:
Alice reads a chapter of her book a day. This has been important for helping her relax and unwind.
In this case, the antecedent to 'this' is the entire sentence 'Alice reads a chapter of her book a day'.
Relative pronouns
We use relative pronouns to introduce a relative clause, which is a special type of clause that describes a noun. Some examples of relative pronouns are 'who', 'whose' and 'which'. A noun can often be the antecedent to a relative pronoun. For example:
Jim, who is the most well-known policeman in the village, prevented another crime today.
In this example, 'Jim' is the antecedent to the relative pronoun 'who'.
Importance of antecedent in literature
Antecedents are a vital tool to help a writer improve their writing both grammatically and stylistically. Let's look more closely at both of these areas.
Grammatically
An antecedent helps to make grammatical sense of a sentence. Without it, it can be challenging to understand what the author is trying to say. If the antecedent is incorrect, two readers might perceive a sentence differently. For example, take a look at this sentence:
Two girls, Julia and Anna, have always had a strained relationship, which she always wrote about in her daily diary.
Who is writing in their diary every night, Julia or Anna? Because 'she' is a singular pronoun and the sentence mentions two girls, it is unclear who the pronoun refers to. To fix this sentence, the writer could either name the girl who is writing in their diary or change the singular pronouns 'she' and 'her' to the plural pronouns 'they' and 'their'.
Stylistically
Using antecedents helps a writer improve the style of their work by avoiding repetition and consequently improving the flow of the text. For example, here's an excerpt from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice (1813)
Darcy was clever. He was at the same time haughty, reserved, and fastidious, and his manners, though well bred, were not inviting. In that respect his friend had greatly the advantage.
- Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice Chapter 4
Austen provides an easily readable, vivid illustration of one of the main characters in her novel. The main antecedent is 'Darcy', and Austen employs various personal pronouns like 'he' and 'his' to make the description flow well. In comparison, let's remove all pronouns that refer to the antecedent and just keep the main noun, 'Darcy'.
Darcy was clever. Darcy was at the same time haughty, reserved, and fastidious, and Darcy's manners, though well bred, were not inviting. In that respect, Darcy's friend had greatly the advantage.
In this example, the overuse of 'Darcy' is jarring and makes the text uncomfortable to read. With this in mind, it's clear to see the importance of using antecedents in literature.
Antecedent or Postcedent?
What's the difference between an antecedent and a postcedent? Let's define what a postcedent is before looking at the difference between the two terms.
A postcedent is the opposite of an antecedent and occurs when the pronoun comes before the clause or noun.
Let's look at an example of a postcedent to better understand this term.
When he gets upset, George usually meditates to calm down.
As you can see, the pronoun that refers to George comes before his name is mentioned, making this a postcedent. For perspective, if this example were turned into an antecedent, it would look like this.
When George gets upset, he usually meditates to calm down.
It's easy to get mixed up between antecedents and postcedents, so it can be useful to remind yourself that 'ante' means 'before' and 'post' means after.
In (ante)cedents (before), the noun will appear before the pronoun.
In (post)cedents (after), the noun will appear after the pronoun.
Literary Antecedent examples
Let's look at some examples of antecedents from famous works of literature
I could picture the smooth oval of Laura’s face, her neatly pinned chignon, the dress she would have been wearing: a shirtwaist with a small rounded collar, in a sober colour – navy blue or steel grey or hospital-corridor green. Penitential colours – less like something she’d chosen to put on than like something she’d been locked up in.
- Margaret Atwood, The Blind Assassin (2000)
In this beautiful description of a character's appearance, Atwood chooses the noun 'Laura' as her antecedent. She then replaces her name with 'she' and 'her', helping the passage to maintain a coherent flow.
Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It’s hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It’s round and wet and crowded.
- Kurt Vonnegut, God Bless You, Mr Rosewater, or Pearls before Swine (1965)
In this famous excerpt, the antecedent is the noun 'Earth'. The narrator then uses the pronoun 'it' to refer to it.
Me thinks the wind has spoke aloud at land,
A fuller blast ne’er shook our battlements
If it hath ruffianed so upon the sea
- Shakespeare, Othello (1603)
The work of Shakespeare is filled with exciting antecedents, some of which are harder to spot than others. In this example, 'wind' is the antecedent, with Shakespeare later replacing it in the third line with the pronoun 'it'.
Literary Antecedent - Key takeaways
- A literary antecedent is a device within which a pronoun references a previous clause or noun.
- An antecedent and the word that refers to it must agree in regards to both gender and quantity.
- Antecedents are the opposite of postcedents, with an antecedent meaning the noun comes before the pronoun, and postcedents meaning the noun comes after the pronoun.
- Although the basic structure of a literary antecedent is always the same, an antecedent could take the form of a singular noun, a noun phrase, or an entire sentence.
- Antecedents are an important tool to help a writer improve their writing both grammatically and stylistically.
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