juxtaposition
Deliberate contrasting placement
Juxtaposition is placing things side by side, especially to highlight contrast or comparison.
The term appears often in art criticism and literary analysis: The juxtaposition of wealth and poverty in the photograph was striking.
The effect depends on what the pairing reveals—similarities, differences, or ironic tension between elements that don't usually appear together.
Putting somewhere specific
- positioningArranging in specific locations
- pairingJoining two together
- adjacencyState of being beside
- proximityNearness in space
side-by-side · alignment · configuration · layout · montage · collage · assemblage · sequencing
Direct opposite; contrasting juxtaposition
- dichotomyDivision into contrasting parts
- polarityState of opposing forces
- disparityMeasurable difference between things
- incongruityLack of harmony
dissonance · contradiction · tension · counterpoint · clash · divergence · discrepancy · irony
Meaning opposite to words
- paradoxSeemingly absurd truth
- oxymoronSelf-contradicting phrase device
- antithesisDirect opposite; contrasting juxtaposition
- foilDefeat a plan
counterpoint · bathos · satire · incongruity · absurdism · defamiliarization · estrangement · contrast
Assembled sequence of images
- collageAssembled mixed-media artwork
- diptychHinged two-part artwork
- triptychArt in three panels
- installationProcess of putting in
assemblage · photomontage · mixed-media · Rauschenberg · Dada · surrealism · cubism · readymade
Stretched or strained state
- surpriseUnexpected event causing astonishment
- ironyMeaning opposite to words
- dissonanceLack of harmony
- harmonyAgreement or musical blend
resonance · interplay · dialogue · friction · synergy · disruption · revelation · emphasis
placement
Putting somewhere specific
- positioningArranging in specific locations
- pairingJoining two together
- adjacencyState of being beside
proximity · side-by-side · alignment · configuration · layout · montage · collage · assemblage · sequencing · ordering
antithesis
Direct opposite; contrasting juxtaposition
- dichotomyDivision into contrasting parts
- polarityState of opposing forces
- disparityMeasurable difference between things
incongruity · dissonance · contradiction · tension · counterpoint · clash · divergence · discrepancy · irony · paradox
irony
Meaning opposite to words
- paradoxSeemingly absurd truth
- oxymoronSelf-contradicting phrase device
- antithesisDirect opposite; contrasting juxtaposition
foil · counterpoint · bathos · satire · incongruity · absurdism · defamiliarization · estrangement · contrast · subversion
montage
Assembled sequence of images
installation · assemblage · photomontage · mixed-media · Rauschenberg · Dada · surrealism · cubism · readymade · appropriation
tension
Stretched or strained state
- surpriseUnexpected event causing astonishment
- ironyMeaning opposite to words
- dissonanceLack of harmony
harmony · resonance · interplay · dialogue · friction · synergy · disruption · revelation · emphasis · heightening
- oppositesopposite, opposites, antonym, antonyms, inverse
- literary elementsplot, character, setting, theme, narrator
- poetrypoem, poems, poetry, verse, verses
- compositionbalance, symmetry, asymmetry, proportion, layout
- contrastsopposites, antithesis, polarity, dichotomy, duality
- crosswordsacross, cryptic, acrostic, clues, codeword
juxtapositionseparation
State of being apart
isolation · distance · remoteness · dispersal · scattering
juxtapositiondispersion
Scattering across space
scattering · distribution · randomization · disarrangement · segregation
juxtapositiondisconnection
State of being severed
dissociation · detachment · parting · severance · disjunction