Juxtaposition - What is Juxtaposition?

Definition: Simply stated, juxtaposition means placing things side-by-

side. In art this usually is done with the intention of bringing out a
specific quality or creating an effect, particularly when two contrasting
or opposing elements are used. The viewer's attention is drawn to the
similarities or differences between the elements.
While juxtaposition can be used in terms of formal elements - for
example, the use of aggressive mark-making in contrast to an area of
very controlled shading, or an area of crisp detail against something
softly handled, it more often refers to concepts or imagery. An artist
might juxtapose a machine-made object or urban environment against
organic elements of nature, in order to highlight different qualities in the
two. Note that the way this is done can dramatically change the
meaning: we might regard the machine-made or human-created as
representing safety and order against the uncontrollable strength of
nature; or we might see the fragility and beauty of nature against the
soul-less uniformity of the urban world, depending on the nature of the
subjects or images and the way they are presented.

Definition:
In composition, the placing of verbal elements side by side, leaving it up
to the reader to establish connections and impose a meaning.
These verbal elements (words, clauses, sentences) may be drawn from
different sources and juxtaposed to form a literary collage.

A rhetorical term for phrases or clauses arranged independently:
coordinate, rather than a subordinate, construction. (Contrast with
hypotaxis.) Adjective: paratactic.
Parataxis is sometimes used as a synonym for asyndeton--that is, the
coordination of phrases and clauses without coordinating conjunctions.
Characteristics of Paratactic Prose
"In paratactic prose, clauses are loosely connected, creating a lopping
discourse of here's another thing and another thing and another thing. . .
. Paratactic prose occurs more frequently in narrative and explanation,
and hypotactic prose more frequently in explicit arguments."
(Jeanne Fahnestock, Rhetorical Style: The Uses of Language in
Persuasion. Oxford Univ. Press, 2011)


"When clauses are linked in a relationship of equality, we say that the
relationship is paratactic. Parataxis is the relationship between units of
equal status. . . . Paratactic linking is often treated as equivalent
to coordination . . .; more exactly, coordination is one type of parataxis,
others being juxtaposition and linking by conjunctions such as so and
yet."
(Angela Downing and Philip Locke, A University Course in English
Grammar. Prentice Hall, 1992)
Parataxis allows for the coherence of a narrative's themes to be
independent of the sequential organization of the story elements. Use of
paratactic ordering is common in folksongs and even myths where the
rearrangement of story elements in their order of presentation does not
damage or confuse the story.