Raising a racket with CACOPHONY

This sentence — harsh, discordant and jarring — is a perfect example of cacophony, a literary device used to create an unpleasant, chaotic effect, an atmosphere of tension, violence, and emotional turmoil.

- ROOPA BANERJEE

Cacophony is derived from the Greek kakophonia, meaning bad sound. It is a combination of kakos, meaning bad or ugly, and phone, meaning sound or voice. The word was first used to signify unpleasant, discordant sounds, and it is still used in the same way. Unlike 'euphony', a word that's smooth and sounds nice when articulaed, cacophony uses harsh consonants such as k, g, t, and d, which grate instead of gliding smoothly.

In literature, cacophony is used to create chaotic conditions and emotional disturbance. A good example is in Shakespeare's tragedy King Lear. Lear, in the midst of a tempest on the heath, utters cacophonous words amidst thunder, wind, and rain. The language used here is disjointed and harsh, matching the tempest and Lear's emotional turmoil.

Another example is in Wilfred Owen's war poems, such as