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vocabulary
Aug. 10th, 2005 04:20 pmantimony: An apparent contradiction between valid conclusions. (Wiktionary)
ascesis: asceticism, self-discipline
agon: the conflict on which a literary work turns (Wikipedia)
autotelic: having itself as its only purpose
superficies: surface of a body or region in space; external aspects (compare "superficial")
anterior: before in place, earlier in time (opposite of posterior)
symptomatic: Misused for or confused with symbolic or emblematic (OED); also characteristic or indicative
catachresis: Improper use of words; application of a term to a thing which it does not properly denote; abuse or perversion of a trope or metaphor. (OED)
incommensurable: Having no common standard of measurement; not comparable in respect of magnitude or value; Not worthy to be measured with; not coming up to the standard of measurement of (something); utterly disproportioned to (OED)
stereotomy: The science or art of cutting, or making sections of, solids; that department of geometry which deals with sections of solid figures; the art of cutting stone or other solid bodies into measured forms, as in masonry (OED). But Homi Bhabha's use seems to mean dichotomous and stereotypical. Perhaps cutting people or ideas into stereotypical shapes? This is a passage that is oft-quoted:
Ah, he's speaking metaphorically. The occidental stereotomy is the Western practice of making rigid definitions, as opposed to postcolonial fluidity. But what does catachresis mean in this context? Perhaps it is that the postcolonial discourses twist tropes and metaphors, established meanings of signs, as above where rigid definition becomes a space of possibility.
oneiric: of or pertaining to dreams. (I used to know that one.)
inimical: harmful in effect, unfriendly, hostile. (I did know that one. Really.)
teleology: The doctrine or study of ends or final causes, esp. as related to the evidences of design or purpose in nature; also transf. such design as exhibited in natural objects or phenomena (OED). (Kinda what I thought but had to make sure. The Wiktionary definition made me doubt myself.)
ascesis: asceticism, self-discipline
agon: the conflict on which a literary work turns (Wikipedia)
autotelic: having itself as its only purpose
superficies: surface of a body or region in space; external aspects (compare "superficial")
anterior: before in place, earlier in time (opposite of posterior)
symptomatic: Misused for or confused with symbolic or emblematic (OED); also characteristic or indicative
catachresis: Improper use of words; application of a term to a thing which it does not properly denote; abuse or perversion of a trope or metaphor. (OED)
incommensurable: Having no common standard of measurement; not comparable in respect of magnitude or value; Not worthy to be measured with; not coming up to the standard of measurement of (something); utterly disproportioned to (OED)
stereotomy: The science or art of cutting, or making sections of, solids; that department of geometry which deals with sections of solid figures; the art of cutting stone or other solid bodies into measured forms, as in masonry (OED). But Homi Bhabha's use seems to mean dichotomous and stereotypical. Perhaps cutting people or ideas into stereotypical shapes? This is a passage that is oft-quoted:
- "I have attempted to provide the discursive temporality, or time-lag, which is crucial to the process by which this turning around--of tropes, ideologies, concept metaphors--comes to be textualized and specified in postcolonial agency: the moment when the 'bar' of the occidental stereotomy is turned into the coextensive, contingent boundaries of relocation and reinscription: the catachrestic gesture" (Bhabha 184).
Ah, he's speaking metaphorically. The occidental stereotomy is the Western practice of making rigid definitions, as opposed to postcolonial fluidity. But what does catachresis mean in this context? Perhaps it is that the postcolonial discourses twist tropes and metaphors, established meanings of signs, as above where rigid definition becomes a space of possibility.
oneiric: of or pertaining to dreams. (I used to know that one.)
inimical: harmful in effect, unfriendly, hostile. (I did know that one. Really.)
teleology: The doctrine or study of ends or final causes, esp. as related to the evidences of design or purpose in nature; also transf. such design as exhibited in natural objects or phenomena (OED). (Kinda what I thought but had to make sure. The Wiktionary definition made me doubt myself.)