Prosopopoeia

A prosopopoeia (Ancient Greek: προσωποποιία, /prɒsoʊpoʊˈpiːə/) is a rhetorical device in which a non-human element speaks or is spoken to as a human.

Prosopopoeiae can also be used to take some of the load off the communicator by placing an unfavorable point of view on the shoulders of an imaginary stereotype.

This term also refers to a figure of speech in which an animal or inanimate object is ascribed human characteristics or is spoken of in anthropomorphic language.

Quintilian writes of the power of this figure of speech to "bring down the gods from heaven, evoke the dead, and give voices to cities and states" (Institutes of Oratory Book IX Chapter 2).

Prosopopoeia is the title of the English translation of Farid Tali's French novel in which the central narrative is spoken through the body of the author's late brother.