Abstract
This article, we delineate the relationship between nonsense, opposition and paradox in selected excerpts of the works of Edward Lear (1812-1888) and Qorpo Santo (1829-1883), considering nonsense and paradox in the light of the theories proposed mainly by Gilles Deleuze (2015)Deleuze, G. Logic of sense. Translated by Constantin V. Boundas. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2015. and Charles Ogden (1932)Ogden, C. Opposition: a linguistic and psychological analysis. 1932. Indiana University Press, 1967. and secondarily by Jean Jacques Lecercle (1994)Lecercle, J. J. “The polyphony of nonsense”. Philosophy of nonsense: the intuitions of Victorian nonsense literature. Routledge, 1994., Wim Tigges (1988)Tigges, W. An anatomy of literary nonsense. Rodopi, 1988. and Ferdinand Saussure (1916)Saussure, F. de. Course on general linguistics. 1916. Edited by Charles Bally and Albert Sechehaye. In collaboration with Albert Reidlinger. Translated by Wade Baskin. The Philosophical Library, 1959.. This article seeks to understand the relationship between sense and nonsense in relation to the way these theorists articulate the productive tension that exists between other kinds of binary relationships. Research carried out about the relationship between nonsense theories and the binary opposites delineated by pairs and more precisely about Edward Lear and Qorpo Santo has been extremely scarce, and this article seeks to contribute to the related literary scholarship.
Keywords
Opposition; Edward Lear; Qorpo Santo; Nonsense
The Bountiful Beetle, from the complete works of Edward 
“There was an old man of El Hums”, from the complete works of Edward 
(1) There was a Young Person of Crete, (2) There was an Old Man of Dundee, (3) There was an Old Man of Whitehaven, from the complete works of Edward 
Nonsense Alphabet, from Edward Lear’s complete works, 2001.
1. A plate from Edward Lear’s Illustrations of the Family of Psittacidae, or Parrots, published in 1832. 2. Bottlephorkia Spoonfolia. 3. Manypeeplia Upsidownia, both from Edward Lear’s complete works, 2001.
“The enthusiastic elephant”, from Edward Lear’s complete works, 2001.
“There was a Young Lady whose bonnet”, from Edward Lear’s complete works, 2001.
“The owl and the pussy-cat”, from Edward Lear’s Nonsense songs, 1871.
(1) There was an Old Man with a nose; (2) There was an Old Man of Moldavia; (3) There was an Old Man of Peru; all from Edward Lear’s complete works, 2001.
(1) “Washtubbia Circularis”; (2) “Stunnia Dinnerbellia”, from Nonsense Songs, 1871.