Blason

The terms "blason", "blasonner", "blasonneur" were used in 16th-century French literature by poets who, following Clément Marot in 1536, practised a genre of poems that praised a woman by singling out different parts of her body and finding appropriate metaphors to compare them with.

One famous example of such a celebratory poem, ironically rejecting each proposed stock metaphor, is William Shakespeare's Sonnet 130: Blason draws on Petrarchan conventions of representing the female beloved in Petrarch's Canzoniere of the 14th century.

The term Blason populaire is a phrase in which one culture or ethnic group increases its own self-esteem by belittling others e.g. Samuel Johnson's description that "The noblest prospect which a Scotsman ever sees, is the high road that leads him to England!".

For instance, Ethiopia has a genre of poetry called Mälkəˀ, meaning "image" or "portrait,” generally written in the language of Gəˁəz in honor of sacred individuals.

[4] For an example, see the poem Mälkəˀa Wälättä Ṗeṭros: Hail to your back, which cast off luxurious cloaks,and to your chest, a banquet-table for the wretched.Walatta Petros, our mother, lover of fasting and prayer,request forgiveness for our sins before the Lord:Thus we implore you, we who are yours.