Repetition at Work

"Free at last! Free at last!" 

Civil rights march on Washington DC 1963

by staff photographer of U.S. News & World Report, Library of Congress. Image is in the Public Domain {{PD-USGov}}

Consciously or intuitively, we frequently use repetition to emphasize, connect, contrast, and compare–or for humor and other rhetorical or literary effects.[1] While too much repetition may become boring, or suggest careless editing, the occasional repetition of a word or a few words in a passage of speech or writing can also help simulate the informality of conversation–probably because we often repeat words in everyday talk.

We've long recognized that carefully crafted repetition, especially with variation, powerfully reinforces–for good or ill. Teachers of classical rhetoric in Ancient Greece and Rome from about the fifth century BC–and more widely since–advocate strategic use of repetition, through choice from a battery of rhetorical devices with different effects.[2] These include commonly used anaphora, antistasis, commoratio, or diacope.[3] [video here] 

A nineteenth century guide to composition recommended that "A frank repetition of a word has even sometimes a kind of charm–as bearing the stamp of truth, the foundation of all excellence of style."[4] 

Some nuances of this truth effect are explored in more recent psychology research. Apparently "people judge repeated information as truer than new information." Researchers also find "People consider that others are more susceptible...than themselves, and underestimate the impact of repetition on judgments of truth."[5] This all seems to confirm "Repeating information increases people's belief that the repeated information is true."[6]

Propagandists intuitively understand this power of repetition. As Jacques Ellul points out, the "endless repetition of formulas, explanations, and simple stimuli" erodes "scorn and disbelief."[7] However foolish we might initially believe some nonsense to be, its repetitive use focuses both conversation and actions.[8] 

When journalists and others in the media repeatedly quote verbatim the egregious lies or nonsense of propagandists, this just helps to advance a propagandist's name, identity, and style–which inevitably increases the significance of the rants and ramblings.[9]

Former editors or journalists and the large number of readers or viewers cancelling media subscriptions seem more concerned about this than many in the media.[10]

References

1. Jeanne Fahnestock (2011), Rhetorical Style: The Uses of Language in Persuasion, New York: Oxford University Press

2. Fahnestock, pp. 320-327

3. Luís Azevedo (Director) and Mark Forsyth (Writer) (2020), What Makes a Movie Line Memorable? Diacope, Little White Lies - https://lwlies.com/ video at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oo5Ikx3F5ak

4. Richard Nordquist (2023), "Definition and Examples of Repetition in Writing," ThoughtCo, April 5, https://www.thoughtco.com/repetition-language-and-rhetoric-1691887

5. Simone Mattavelli, Jérémy Bena, Olivier Corneille, and Christian Unkelbach (2024), "People Underestimate the Influence of Repetition on Truth Judgments (and More So for Themselves than for Others)," Cognition, 242, January, 105651,  https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010027723002858; also Preprint, April 2023, "Repetition Increases Perceived Truth of Interpersonal Statements from Both Politically Congruent and Incongruent Sources," https://www.researchgate.net/publication/369858247_People_underestimate_the_influence_of_repetition_on_truth_judgments_and_more_so_for_themselves_than_for_others

6. Felix Speckmann and Christian Unkelbach (2024), "Illusions of Knowledge Due to Mere Repetition," Cognition, 247, April, 10579,  https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010027724000775

7. Jacques Ellul (1965), Propaganda: The Formation of Men’s Attitudes, New York: Knopf, p. 312

8. Rodney G. Miller (2024), Get Ahead of Propagandists: Countering Disinformation, Albany, NY: Parula, p. 14

9. Miller, p. 18-19

10. Zada, John (2021), Veils of Distortion: How the News Media Warps Our Minds, Toronto: Terra Incognita; Dan Gillmor (2024), "At Its Moment of Peril, Democracy Needs Journalists to Be Activists," Medium, July 2,  https://dangillmor.medium.com/at-its-moment-of-peril-democracy-needs-journalists-to-be-activists-8776aa9c99c3