NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #20/NN_1992_20.iso/spool/comp/lang/perl/5902

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From: [e-mail] (Ed Kubaitis - CCSO)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.perl
Subject: Exegesis
Keywords: theophany meme exegesis VCRPlus+
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: 13 Sep 92 16:41:59 GMT
References: <[e-mail]> <[e-mail]> <[e-mail]>
Sender: [e-mail] (Net Noise owner)
Organization: University of Illinois - Urbana
Lines: 126

In article <[e-mail]>,
[e-mail] (Joel Rosi-Schwartz) writes:
  |...
  |Larry, your recent comment on cultural/theological diffirences was
  |interesting.
  |
  |[In article <[e-mail]>,
  |[e-mail] (Larry Wall) writes:]
  |  > [Though now we're getting into cultural differences, not theological
  |  > differences.  People often confuse the two--probably because most folks
  |  > can't tell the difference between an ordinary meme and a theophany.]
  |
  |I fall into the folk class you refer to, often being unable to clearly
  |differentiate between the two.  How would you classify the two suggestions
  |I made?

Joel here frankly admits difficulty with [e-mail].
As this is perhaps one of the more difficult passages in recent c.l.p.,
Joel should not be criticized for seeking clarification from the author.
However, I suspect that many (lacking seminary training, a background in
classical languages, or an online OED 2) perhaps lack even the understanding
needed to formulate such a query.

For these, I offer the following rudimentary gloss of this challenging
passage.

==============================================================================
theophany
---------
From OED 2:

   theophany (-i:'of&schwa.nI). [ad. L. theophania (c 400 in Rufinus), a.
   Gr.  --o| v-i( and --o| vi( (neut. pl.), f.  --  god + |( v-iv to show:
   see -PHANY.  So Fr. theophanie.  Cf. TIFFANY.] a A manifestation or
   appearance of God or a god to man.   Also transf.

   A. 1633 AUSTIN Medit. (1635) 56 First, the Starre manifested him..from
   the Heavens.  That's, the Epiphany: Secondly, it manifested him from God
   (in Trinity): for hee sent the Starre.  There's, the Theophany.  And
   lastly; It manifested him on Earth (in Domo):..There's the Bethphany.
   1677 GALE Crt. Gentiles II. III. 193 Neither was the name Theophanie,
   which signifies the apparition of God or the Gods, unusual even among
   the Gentiles. 1854 MILMAN Lat.  Chr. VIII. v. III. 352 The universe is
   but a sublime Theophany, a visible manifestation of God. 1894 F. WATSON
   Genesis a true Hist. vi. 141 In the records of the Theophanies to
   Joshua, Gideon, and Manoah. 1894 F. WATSON Genesis a true Hist.,  vi.
   141 The Theophany to Elijah at Horeb.1962 AUDEN Dyer's Hand (1963) 256
   The practical joker desires to make others obey him without being aware
   of his existence until the moment of his theophany.

Note that in the first citation, Austin distinguishes between 'theophany',
and the more common 'epiphany'. Those with a background in 20th century
literature will recall that James Joyce placed great value on what he
termed epiphanies, spontaneous mystical insights into the nature of life
and the cosmos. (The protagonist gazing at the snowfall at the close
of 'The Dead' is commonly cited as undergoing such an experience.)

However, in the contemporary Auden citation we see a wry, secular
appropriation of the learned 'theophany', perhaps present in the c.l.p.
excerpt we are considering.

Of epiphany, OED 2 says:

   Epiphany[1] (I'pIf&schwa.nI). Eccl. Also 4-7 epyphany(e, epiphanie, (4
   the pyffanie = th' epyffanie). [a. OFr. epiphanie = Pr., Ital. epifania,
   ad. late L.  epiphania neut.  pl.  (but often used as fem.  sing.), a.
   late Gr.   ~~i| vi( (neut.  pl.  of adj.  * ~~i| vio), f.   ~~i|( v-iv
   to manifest, f.   ~~  to + |( v-iv to show.]
   ...

   1 A manifestation or appearance of some divine or superhuman being.

   A. 1667 JER. TAYLOR Serm. III. ix. (R.), Him..they beheld transfig-
   ured, and in a glorious epiphany on the mount. 1677 GALE Crt. Gentiles
   II. III. 193 The Grecians in commemoration of these epiphanies or appar-
   itions of their gods instituted certain Festival-dayes.  1826 E. IRVING
   Babylon II. VI. 121 The second coming of Christ; the glorious Epiphany
   of God our Saviour. 1847 GROTE Greece II. xxx. (1849) IV. 141 Probably
   all..sincerely believed in the epiphany of the goddess. 1870 F. HALL in
   Wilson's tr.  Vishnu-purana v. 3 The first definition of Hayagriva makes
   him an epiphany of Vishnu. 1879 FARRAR St. Paul I. 164 Transported
   beyond all thought of peril by that divine epiphany, he [Stephen]
   exclaimed, etc.

   2 transf. and fig.

   1840-1 DE QUINCEY Style Wks. XI. 257 There had been two manifestations
   or bright epiphanies of the Grecian intellect. 1881 BLACKIE Lay Serm. v.
   186 The statesman has yet to make his epiphany who, etc.

We clearly see that Joyce probably intended the more secular sense of
De Quincey and Blackie. One wonders whether Larry intended a similar
secular sense, and if so, why did he not use the more common 'epiphany'.
The New Critics would doubtless offer their usual nostrum: "Larry intended"
they would say, "exploitation of the creative tension obtaining between
the intensional and extensional aspects." But when one considers Larry's
interest in classical languages (see <[e-mail]>),
this facile gloss loses some of its gloss.

meme
----
Alas, OED2 lacks an entry for this intriguing neologism. So your humble
commentator is thrown back upon his faulty memory! While I'm uncertain
of the origin, I seem to recollect that it was Hofstadter, perhaps in
"Godel, Escher, Bach" who introduceed me to the term. As I understand
it, a meme is an idea, or set of ideas, but considered as entities unto
themselves which (almost like living things) strive to prosper and propagate
by spreading virus-like to as many hosts (human minds) as possible.

Thus, "free enterprise" and "socialism" may be considered as particularly
rich and complex memes that have arisen and compete for niches in the
global human host pool of the last few centuries. And of course, the
K&R-style-of-C meme claims the lion's share of the C programmer host pool.
Of course, many memes arise in popular culture, flourish briefly, and become
extinct, or at least dormant (e.g. tailfins and "Would you believe...".)
==============================================================================

Your humble author hopes this modest offering has contributed to your
appreciation of these c.l.p passages. If not, tough! I've got a new Stereo
HiFi VCR and Wayne's World waiting for me at home! It's even got VCR Plus+
so I might be able to catch most of the MaryThon on Nick at Nite without
getting callouses on my remote finger!!

----------------------------------
Ed Kubaitis ([e-mail])
Computing & Communications Services Office - University of Illinois, Urbana