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I'm trying to understand the use of literary devices, and in particular the literary conventions related to metonymy, metaphor and similar figures of speech.

For example, in the following sentence, could "women echoed" be regarded as a valid figure of speech?

The women echoed in my daydreaming.

I'm not sure whether "women" can be thought to echo, when it's actually the sound of the women that causes the echo:

The laughter of women echoed in my daydreaming.

Is this a valid figure of speech or is it an error to call it that? More specifically, is using "women" to represent the sound of laughter an example of metonymy (and is metonymy a subset of metaphor)? If not, can "women echoed" be interpreted as some figure of speech other than metonymy or metaphor, and does it occurring in a daydream affect that interpretation?

Chappo Hasn't Forgotten
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Sayaman
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    Welcome to Literature Stack Exchange, take our [tour]! Where is this from? – bobble Apr 28 '21 at 01:09
  • If what you want is a non-literary-specific identification of a figure of speech, that is a question for [ell.se]. Here at Literature we require that questions of this nature be taken from some specific literary work so we can use literary context. Again, general English questions are not in this site's scope. – bobble Apr 28 '21 at 04:37
  • @bobble I can't see anything in the Help Centre's on-topic page requiring a literary work as context. The page says it's on-topic to ask "Specific questions about ... literary conventions". This is certainly a specific question about a literary device, and although it's a bit awkwardly expressed, I think it's a valid thing to ask. I'll make a further edit, focusing on the "literary convention" angle and seeking to nail down the distinction between metonymy and metaphor (and whether "women echoed" is either). :-) – Chappo Hasn't Forgotten Apr 28 '21 at 09:06
  • @bobble further clarification: this question was originally asked on EL&U, where my vote was one of the five to close it. However, I noted that the question would be both on-topic and welcome on our Literature site. This question as first posed here was probably pushing the boundaries, but if, after my edit, you still think I've been too liberal in my interpretation (and maybe I have), it would be good to raise the issue on Meta. :-) – Chappo Hasn't Forgotten Apr 28 '21 at 09:35
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    If it's not from a particular literary work, I don't see how it's on-topic? I agree a meta discussion seems indicated. – verbose Apr 28 '21 at 09:41
  • Oh, and correcting the error in my comment: it was asked on [Writing.SE], not EL&U. Stumbles to the next Stack Exchange site devoted to words.... – Chappo Hasn't Forgotten Apr 28 '21 at 09:51
  • @ChappoHasn'tForgottenMonica what was the close reason on Writing? – Spagirl Apr 28 '21 at 11:51
  • As ‘echo’ doesn’t have to mean sound, eg can be about evocation of memory, I’m really not convinced there is much of a literary device involved in the example. The origin of the Q suggests the OP is talking about their own work in which case ELL or ELU would seem more appropriate to my mind. – Spagirl Apr 28 '21 at 12:01
  • @Spagirl The question was closed on Writing.SE as "not about writing". I wasn't involved in the decision to close the question, but I do feel as though it's more on-topic on ELU (if about their own writing) or here (if about someone else's). – F1Krazy Apr 28 '21 at 12:23
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    I've opened a meta discussion about this. – bobble Apr 28 '21 at 21:05
  • @Spagirl like many words, the metaphorical use (in this case, for a reflection, repetition, imitation etc) has become so common that it's now accepted as a secondary meaning. If the author had described women laughing, is "the women echoed" merely using this secondary meaning, or does women act here as a substitute for "[the memory of] women laughing" – and if so, is it legitimate to call that metonymy, or is it some other figure of speech? PS if I asked "is XX an example of metonymy?" on EL&U, it would be closed as off-topic because it's about a specialist term (ie a literary convention). – Chappo Hasn't Forgotten Apr 29 '21 at 23:34
  • Sayaman, could you please identify the source of the sentence? – Tsundoku Jan 03 '23 at 15:34

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