Literary notes about invert (AI summary)
The word "invert" is employed in literature to suggest both literal and metaphorical reversals of order, ideas, or roles. For instance, Thomas Jefferson uses inversion to reframe sentences and create new meanings within political discourse [1]. In a more literal sense, Jean-Jacques Rousseau describes inverting a glass in water to illustrate the resistance of air in physical processes [2]. The concept extends into a moral and metaphysical arena when Alexander Pope uses inversion to critique the subversion of natural and divine orders [3]. Hans Gross applies inversion as a methodological tool in evaluating testimonies and observations within criminal psychology [4], while Henri Bergson employs the idea to generate humor by switching roles in a character-driven scenario [5].
- But we have only to invert these sentences, and say, “to do this is wrong,” and we have a new substantive in the nom.
— from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson - I invert a glass in water; the water will not fill it unless you leave a passage for the escape of the air; so air is capable of resistance.
— from Emile by Jean-Jacques Rousseau - Aspiring to be gods, if angels fell, Aspiring to be angels, men rebel: And who but wishes to invert the laws Of order, sins against the Eternal Cause.
— from An Essay on Man; Moral Essays and Satires by Alexander Pope - We must invert this observation; we are the auditors of the witness and must observe whether his own causal connections satisfy him.
— from Criminal Psychology: A Manual for Judges, Practitioners, and Students by Hans Gross - Picture to yourself certain characters in a certain situation: if you reverse the situation and invert the roles, you obtain a comic scene.
— from Laughter: An Essay on the Meaning of the Comic by Henri Bergson
