prosopopoë

Prosopopoeia, also spelled prosopopoeia, is a rhetorical figure in which a nonpresent, dead, or inanimate entity is attributed with a voice and made to speak. The term comes from Greek prosōpopoiēsis, literally “face-making,” and it is often described as giving voice to someone or something that cannot speak for itself, whether a statue, an absent person, a deity, an animal, or an abstract concept.

In a prosopopoeia, the voice may speak in the first person or otherwise act as if it were present and addressing the audience. This device allows the writer to foreground a point of view, reveal hidden motives, or dramatize argument by granting authority or insight to a speaking voice that is not the narrator. It is distinct from simple personification, which ascribes human traits to nonhuman things but does not typically involve a voiced speech from the entity itself.

Prosopopoeia has a long pedigree in classical rhetoric and literature, appearing in Greek and Roman works and continuing through medieval and early modern writings. It remains a versatile tool in poetry, drama, sermons, and narrative prose, where it can create immediacy, moral reflection, or rhetorical surprise. Modern uses often extend the device to imagined voices of objects, situations, or social forces, reinforcing thematic concerns or provoking critical interpretation.

Related terms include personification, apostrophe, and anthropomorphism. Prosopopoeia is primarily distinguished by the staged, speaking presence of the entity rather than simply attributing human qualities to it.