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Granfalloon
A granfalloon, in the fictional religion of Bokononism (created by Kurt Vonnegut in his 1963 novel ''Cat's Cradle''), is defined as a "false karass". That is, it is a group of people who affect a shared identity or purpose, but whose mutual association is meaningless. As quoted in ''And So It Goes: Kurt Vonnegut: A Life'' (2011) by Charles J. Shields, Vonnegut writes in his introduction to his book '' Wampeters, Foma and Granfalloons'' (1974) that a "granfalloon is a proud and meaningless collection of human beings"; Shields also comments that in the same book, Vonnegut later cites the demonym of 'Hoosiers' as "one of onnegut'sfavorite examples" of what the term embodies. Another example of a granfalloon given in ''Cat's Cradle'' is 'alumni of Cornell University'. Kurt Vonnegut himself was born in Indiana and attended Cornell University. Examples The most commonly purported granfalloons are associations and societies based on a shared but ultimately fabricated premise. Example ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wampeters, Foma And Granfalloons
''Wampeters, Foma & Granfalloons (Opinions)'' is a collection of essays, reviews, short travel accounts, and human interest stories written by Kurt Vonnegut from c. 1966–1974. On the title Vonnegut explains the title in the introduction: :Dear Reader: The title of this book is composed of three words from my novel ''Cat's Cradle''. A " wampeter" is an object around which the lives of many otherwise unrelated people may revolve. The Holy Grail would be a case in point. "Foma" are harmless untruths, intended to comfort simple souls. An example: "Prosperity is just around the corner." A "granfalloon" is a proud and meaningless association of human beings. Taken together, the words form as good an umbrella as any for this collection of some of the reviews and essays I've written, a few of the speeches I made. Contents * "Science Fiction" - Vonnegut's reflections on writing science fiction. * "Brief Encounters on the Inland Waterway" (1966) - This recounts a journey from Mass ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bokononism
''Cat's Cradle'' is a satirical postmodern novel, with science fiction elements, by American writer Kurt Vonnegut. Vonnegut's fourth novel, it was first published on March 18, 1963, exploring and satirizing issues of science, technology, the purpose of religion, and the arms race, often through the use of morbid humor. Synopsis Background The first-person everyman narrator opens the novel with "Call me Jonah. My parents did, or nearly did. They called me John", though neither name appears again throughout the novel. The narrator is a professional writer who frames the plot as a flashback set in the mid-20th century, when he was planning to write a book called ''The Day the World Ended''. He describes his concept for that book as an account of what people were doing on the day of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Throughout, he also intersperses meaningful as well as sarcastic passages and sentiments from an odd religious scripture known as ''The Books of Bokonon''. Most of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hoosier
Hoosier is the official demonym for the people of the U.S. state of Indiana. The origin of the term remains a matter of debate; however, "Hoosier" was in general use by the 1840s, having been popularized by Richmond resident John Finley's 1833 poem "The Hoosier's Nest". Indiana adopted the nickname "The Hoosier State" more than 150 years ago. "Hoosier" is used in the names of numerous Indiana-based businesses and organizations. "Hoosiers" is also the name of the Indiana University athletic teams. As there is no accepted embodiment of a Hoosier, the IU schools are represented through their letters and colors alone. The term is universally accepted by residents of Indiana and, as of 2017, is also the official demonym used by the U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO), making it the only GPO-recommended demonym of any US state that is not directly formed from the state's name. Before 2017, the GPO-recommended demonym for the state was "Indianian". Origin In addition to "The Hoo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kurt Vonnegut
Kurt Vonnegut ( ; November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American author known for his Satire, satirical and darkly humorous novels. His published work includes fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and five nonfiction works over fifty-plus years; further works have been published since his death. Born and raised in Indianapolis, Vonnegut attended Cornell University, but withdrew in January 1943 and enlisted in the United States Army, U.S. Army. As part of his training, he studied mechanical engineering at the Carnegie Mellon University, Carnegie Institute of Technology and the University of Tennessee. He was then deployed to Europe to fight in World War II and was captured by the Germans during the Battle of the Bulge. He was prisoner of war, interned in Dresden, where he survived the Bombing of Dresden in World War II, Allied bombing of the city in a meat locker of the slaughterhouse where he was imprisoned. After the war, he married Jane Marie Cox ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cat's Cradle
''Cat's Cradle'' is a satirical postmodern novel, with science fiction elements, by American writer Kurt Vonnegut. Vonnegut's fourth novel, it was first published on March 18, 1963, exploring and satirizing issues of science, technology, the purpose of religion, and the arms race, often through the use of morbid humor. Synopsis Background The first-person everyman narrator opens the novel with "Call me Jonah. My parents did, or nearly did. They called me John", though neither name appears again throughout the novel. The narrator is a professional writer who frames the plot as a flashback set in the mid-20th century, when he was planning to write a book called ''The Day the World Ended''. He describes his concept for that book as an account of what people were doing on the day of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Throughout, he also intersperses meaningful as well as sarcastic passages and sentiments from an odd religious scripture known as ''The Books of Bokonon''. Most of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nonce Words
In linguistics, a nonce word—also called an occasionalism—is any word (lexeme), or any sequence of sounds or letters, created for a single occasion or utterance but not otherwise understood or recognized as a word in a given language.''The Cambridge Encyclopedia of The English Language''. Ed. David Crystal. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995, p. 132. Nonce words have a variety of functions and are most commonly used for humor, poetry, children's literature, linguistic experiments, psychological studies, and medical diagnoses, or they arise by accident. Some nonce words have a meaning at their inception or gradually acquire a fixed meaning inferred from context and use, but if they eventually become an established part of the language (neologisms), they stop being nonce words.Crystal, David. (1997) ''A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics'' (4th Edition). Oxford and Cambridge (Mass., USA): Blackwell Publishers Ltd. Other nonce words may be essentially mea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tribalism
Tribalism is the state of being organized by, or advocating for, tribes or tribal lifestyles. Human evolution primarily occurred in small hunter-gatherer groups, as opposed to in larger and more recently settled agricultural societies or civilizations. With a negative connotation and in a political context, tribalism can also mean discriminatory behavior or attitudes towards out-groups, based on in-group loyalty. Definition The term "tribe" derives from the ancient Latin word "tribus" and can be defined to mean an extended kin group or clan with a common ancestor. A tribe can also be described as a group who share the common interest of mutual survival and preservation of a common culture. The proverb " birds of a feather flock together" describes homophily, the human tendency to form friendship networks with people of similar occupations, interests, and habits. Some tribes can be located in geographically proximate areas, like villages or bands, and although telecommunicati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Granfalloon (fanzine)
''Granfalloon'' was a science fiction fanzine published by Linda Bushyager. It was nominated twice for the Hugo Award for Best Fanzine in 1972 and 1973 (though losing to ''Locus'' and ''Energumen'' respectively). Contributors included Piers Anthony, Alicia Austin, Bill Bowers, Ron Bushyager, Grant Canfield, Don D'Ammassa, Steve Fabian, Alexis Gilliland, Mike Glicksohn, Terry Jeeves, Arnie Katz, Tim Kirk, Damon Knight, Frank Lunney, Sandra Miesel, Ron Miller, Andrew J. Offutt, Andrew I. Porter, Bill Rotsler, Robert Silverberg, Darrell Schweitzer, Mae Strelkov, Bob Tucker, Harry Warner, Jr., Ted White, Susan Wood and Roger Zelazny Roger Joseph Zelazny (May 13, 1937 – June 14, 1995) was an American fantasy and science fiction writer known for his short stories and novels, best known for '' The Chronicles of Amber''. He won the Nebula Award three times (out of 14 nominatio .... Suzanne Tompkins went on to publish the fanzine ''The Spanish Inquisition'' with Jerry Kau ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henri Tajfel
Henri Tajfel (born Hersz Mordche Tajfel; 22 June 1919 – 3 May 1982) was a Polish social psychologist, best known for his pioneering work on the cognitive aspects of prejudice and social identity theory, as well as being one of the founders of the European Association of Experimental Social Psychology. Biography Early life in Poland Tajfel grew up in Poland. Because of Polish ''numerus clausus'' restrictions on Jews in university education , he left Poland to study chemistry at the Sorbonne in France. At the outbreak of World War II, he volunteered to serve in the French army. A year later, he was taken prisoner-of-war by the Germans. He faced a dilemma: whether or not to admit to the Germans that he was a Polish Jew. He claimed to be a French citizen but did not deny his Jewish identity. He reasoned that if he denied being Jewish and if the Germans found out later that he was Jewish, he would certainly have been killed. In the event, Tajfel survived the war in a serie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Benedict Anderson
Benedict Richard O'Gorman Anderson (August 26, 1936 – December 13, 2015) was an Anglo-Irish political scientist and historian who lived and taught in the United States. Anderson is best known for his 1983 book ''Imagined Communities'', which explored the origins of nationalism. A polyglot with an interest in Southeast Asia, he was the Aaron L. Binenkorb Professor of International Studies, Government & Asian Studies at Cornell University. His work on the "Cornell Paper", which disputed the official story of Indonesia's 30 September Movement and the subsequent Indonesian mass killings of 1965–66, anti-Communist purges of 1965–1966, led to his expulsion from that country. He was the elder brother of the historian Perry Anderson. Biography Background Anderson was born on August 26, 1936, in Kunming, China, to an Irish and Anglo-Irish people, Anglo-Irish father and English mother. His father, James Carew O'Gorman Anderson, was an official with Chinese Maritime Customs. The f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Imagined Communities
''Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism'' is a book by Benedict Anderson about the development of national feeling in different eras and throughout different geographies across the world. It introduced the term " imagined communities" as a descriptor of a social group—specifically nations—and the term has since entered standard usage in myriad political and social science fields. The book was first published in 1983 and was reissued with additional chapters in 1991 and a further revised version in 2006. The book is widely considered influential in the social sciences, with Eric G.E. Zuelow describing the book as "perhaps the most read book about nationalism." It is among the top 10 most-cited publications in the social sciences. Historical argument According to Anderson's theory of imagined communities, the main historical causes of nationalism include: * the increasing importance of mass vernacular literacy, * the movement to abolish th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Groucho Marxism
Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx (; October 2, 1890 – August 19, 1977) was an American comedian, actor, writer, and singer who performed in films and vaudeville on television, radio, and the stage. He is considered one of America's greatest comedians. Marx made 13 feature films as a team with his brothers, who performed under the name the Marx Brothers, of whom he was the third born. He also had a successful solo career, primarily on radio and television, most notably as the host of the game show ''You Bet Your Life''. His distinctive appearance, carried over from his days in vaudeville, included quirks such as an exaggerated stooped posture, spectacles, cigar, and a thick greasepaint mustache (later a real mustache) and eyebrows. Early life Groucho was born Julius Henry Marx on October 2, 1890, in Manhattan, New York City. Marx stated that he was born in a room above a butcher's shop on East 78th Street, "Between Lexington and Third", as he told Dick Cavett in a 1969 televis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
