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Alex
Alex
12:11 AM
@Tsundoku The real challenge is earning the same tag badge multiple times.
Apr 29 at 22:46, by Alex
in The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, Jan 9 '20 at 4:05, by Alex
Just got the bronze hogwarts badge for the third time.
 
Bookworm
Bookworm
12:43 AM
0
Q: Why is Roald Dahl's short story called "Nunc Dimittis"?

equin0x80Roald Dahl wrote a short story called "Nunc Dimittis" (though Wikipedia states that it was first published in 1953 as "The Devious Bachelor"). The story is described here on Wikipedia: it essentially involves a troublemaking older woman falsely convincing the protagonist, Lionel, that his girlfri...

title roald-dahl
 
 
3 hours later…
bobble
bobble
4:08 AM
 
bobble
bobble
4:46 AM
Okay, so this topic challenge won't be a 0-question one
 
Bookworm
Bookworm
0
Q: Where can I find Magda Szabó's tribute to Tibor Szobotka?

bobbleMagda Szabó, according to many, many sites, wrote a tribute to her husband, Tibor Szobotka, a writer and translator of Tolkien and Galsworthy who died in 1982. Unfortunately, searching for variations of Magda Szabó Tibor Szobotka tribute either runs into more repetitions of the same idea, or th...

quote-source magda-szabo hungarian-literature
 
bobble
bobble
It's not a very literarily interesting one, but it came up when I was doing background research for a different question.
 
 
6 hours later…
Tsundoku
Tsundoku
10:26 AM
@bobble That looks like the correct spell ;-)
 
Tsundoku
Tsundoku
11:01 AM
@Bookworm Sounds like a question for @b_jonas.
 
 
2 hours later…
Bookworm
Bookworm
1:31 PM
0
Q: What was the "March of Freedom"? And who is "the usurper"?

EJoshuaS - Reinstate MonicaThe English-language feed of the Next Telegram channel included some photos with 21 years ago, the legendary "March of Freedom" (also known as the "March of Independence") took place against the so-called "union state" and the usurper's policy. Minsk, October 17, 1999 I assume that "the usurper"...

belarusian-literature
 
b_jonas
b_jonas
@Tsundoku That's not something I know off-hand, but I'll try to do some basic internet search. If I don't find it, I might forward the question to people who know more about Hungarian literature, though I'll probably wait a few days before I do that, in case it gets a quick answer here.
Feel free to remind me after 3 days if I forget about this.
hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Szab%C3%B3_Magda says “1947-ben kötött házasságot Szobotka Tibor íróval, akinek alakját Megmaradt Szobotkának című könyvében idézte fel.” so the tribute is a book titled Megmaradt Szobotkának. Let me search for that.
It also says that Szabó Magda handled the estate of his husband after his death, so I imagine some of the tribute might be editing and publishing his partly completed writings.
Oh, I found something.
 
Spagirl
Spagirl
@Bookworm Mistrustful as ever on my own judgement about VTCs, expecially when its a high-rep longstanding user...is a Telegram post within the umbrella of Literature?
 
b_jonas
b_jonas
I'll post an answer.
 
Eng Lit Learner
Eng Lit Learner
1:54 PM
0
Q: Meaning of "He was in its moral universe"

Viser Hashemi He sat at the ravaged table and watched the girl dry herself with efficient strokes, sawing between her toes and twisting her shoulders to reach the backs of her thighs. This was modern life, then, this seamless logic, this common sense, this silent tit-for-tat. This was what people did. He did ...

meaning literature interpretation
0
Q: Meaning of "He was in its moral universe"

Viser Hashemi He sat at the ravaged table and watched the girl dry herself with efficient strokes, sawing between her toes and twisting her shoulders to reach the backs of her thighs. This was modern life, then, this seamless logic, this common sense, this silent tit-for-tat. This was what people did. He did ...

meaning literature interpretation
 
bobble
bobble
@Spagirl how many/what kind of more links do you think would be good for baking up the elder symbolism?
I was being lazy and only offered one support for each element
 
b_jonas
b_jonas
@Slate hello, new community manager ("https://meta.stackexchange.com/a/367919/222298")
@bobble that's a pity. the reading challenges never affected me too much. they're a good way to highlight interesting sets of works that I might not have met before, or hadn't payed much attention before, so I might read a few if they seem particularly interesting, but besides that they don't have a strong effect on me.
 
Tsundoku
Tsundoku
@Bookworm I don't see any connection between that question and our site's scope. Perhaps a question for History SE or Politics SE? CC @Spagirl I think you can trust your judgement :-)
 
Slate
Slate
2:19 PM
@b_jonas 'lo :)
 
Tsundoku
Tsundoku
 
bobble
bobble
@Slate wait... how'd you get out from under the hat?
 
Spagirl
Spagirl
@bobble I don't think it needs a lot, but just something which actually indicated where the information in it comes from rather than one that says things like 'When you see this tree it can be a sign that you are going to help the world move towards a more safe and enlightened state in your life', I mean it doesn't reek of intellectual rigour... I see elder trees every day of the week and I've not really made the world significantly safer that I've noticed... :D
 
Tsundoku
Tsundoku
@bobble Followed the rabbit?
 
Slate
Slate
@bobble What hat? You mean this nest, in this tree?
 
bobble
bobble
2:28 PM
@Spagirl yeaaaah not entirely sure where to find that kind of stuff, lots of places are just happy to assert what they think the symbolism is
And it got deathly boring after the fifth such batch of clickbaity fluff
 
Spagirl
Spagirl
@Bobble, perhaps there is something in literature, did Shakespeare ever mention elders?
But kind of the point of citing a reference is that the reference be meaningful. If you are basing much of your answer in the claim from a source, don't you want to know how reliable the source is?
 
bobble
bobble
throws up hands It makes sense for the water! This is cultivated vowels all over again, ugh
 
Spagirl
Spagirl
TBH I wasn't thrilled with the water citation either, but at least the author of that was trying to back up their claim, unlike the tree one. I'm not sure what the vowels thing is about... hope I haven't triggered some terrible memory. Looking at an Elder tree will probably help cheer you up :D
 
Tsundoku
Tsundoku
@Spagirl "for our elders say, / The barren, touched in this holy chase, / Shake off their sterile curse." Julius Caesar, I, 2. "Most reverend and grave elders" Coriolanus, II, 2.
 
Spagirl
Spagirl
I've got an elder tree, its never said anything that interesting.
 
Tsundoku
Tsundoku
2:36 PM
"So well I know my duty to my elders." The Taming of the Shrew, II, 1
 
Spagirl
Spagirl
@Tsundoku regular pruning, probably
 
bobble
bobble
Apr 26 at 14:07, by bobble
@Randal'Thor re: sarcasm. I didn't have a good analysis for that but and I really would like to take it out, but I thought I had to address all of their questions
Apr 26 at 14:09, by bobble
It's annoying for multi-part meaning questions, especially when the parts aren't that related to reach other, because of I know the answer to all but one part then what should I do? Not answer? Answer but leave that part out? Answer with a poor sub-answer for that part? I went with the last this time, should I not other times?
2
Q: Meaning of "the kind of woman who’d throw round terms like the orthodox feminist position. "

Viser HashemiThis passage is from The Children's Bach by Helen Garner Doctor Fox looked at Elizabeth as he chewed, and nodded and smiled. She must be nearly forty now, like Dex. Thank God they were never foolish enough to marry, though no doubt Dexter had poked her when they were students. He felt like laugh...

meaning the-childrens-bach helen-garner
 
Tsundoku
Tsundoku
If you're looking for the tree, though: " Look for thy reward / Among the nettles at the elder-tree" Titus Andronicus, II, 3
 
bobble
bobble
I was trying to emulate this answer where it started by logically asserting that primroses symbolized springtime, then shifted immediately into applying said symbolism to show how it made sense
other places had similar ideas about elder trees rummages
> The elder is a tree of beginnings and endings, of birth and death
> Right on the heels of its associations of banishment and death come the elder’s attributes of rebirth and renewal. The elder earns these symbolism’s honestly as it has long been recognized as a prized medicinal tree. Everything from bark to berries has been used to treat all manner of ailments. The ancient Celtic people recognized its healing abilities, and honored the elder for the gifts of good health.
> as its meaning is transformation, Death, and regeneration. It has one of the strongest reputations for fairy and witch superstitions and magical protection of all the Ogham trees. It is the end of a cycle or problem and a rebirth.
any of these better?
further rummaging
you probably wouldn't like spiritualunite.com/articles/… since that's another let's-not-justify-ourselves
 
Tsundoku
Tsundoku
I don't know. The issue with any popular sources about symbols is that they give the impression that these associations are stable, even though these symbolic meanings have now been largely forgotten. They also tend to dissociate them from any concrete context in which the symbols were used. "It's a Celtic symbol" does not really say much.
 
bobble
bobble
2:47 PM
I don't know what else to do, though.
 
Tsundoku
Tsundoku
Moreover, the fact that X was a symbol for Y in some past culture does not automatically mean that it has that same meaning in 20th-century book Z, written at a time when that symbolic meaning might have been forgotten.
 
bobble
bobble
sighs can you tell I Googled "elder tree symbolism"?
 
Tsundoku
Tsundoku
It might be but it might not. You can't determine that without a careful reading of the work in question.
 
Spagirl
Spagirl
if it was me I would try looking for sources which are written by people who study folklore academically rather than so that they can publish books called the Fairy Bible complete with instructions for building alters to Odin.
 
bobble
bobble
?
 
Spagirl
Spagirl
2:50 PM
Or by looking for sources from literature of older periods, which the author might have been familiar with, which is why a shakespeare reference would have been ideal
 
bobble
bobble
I get twelve hits for elder in Google Books, d'yah want me to pull in those for analysis?
 
Spagirl
Spagirl
The goddess tree site has its source for 'tree of beginings and endings' as 'The Fairy Bible, Teresa Moorey', which according to Goodreads includes Gods like Odin as Faeries and instructions for altar building.
 
bobble
bobble
Again, I was sorta trying to copy Rand's primrose answer, which spent a single paragraph on an (admittedly stronger) defense of symbolism and then took it for granted
 
Spagirl
Spagirl
If that's what it takes for you to find a refernce which has some substance, parhaps that's what it takes. As I said, I'm not downvoting you, but if the source for the symbolism of ender is from a deeply woo site, you won't get my upvote either. I wasn't trying to harrangue you, just to suggest how the answer could have a better foundation.
 
bobble
bobble
I deleted it. I'm in a terrible state of mind.
 
Spagirl
Spagirl
2:59 PM
Rand's answer gave straightforward reference to the seasonality of primroses and links to substantiate that. Then he made a case for its seasonality being pertinent. The site he linked to made some non-backed-up claims of medical use, but those didn't form part of his argument. He specifically rejected a need to go into any further symbolism, so the degree to which you can compare the answers is limited. You are relying on symbolism, he was relying on seasonality.
I had no intention of contributing to you having a terrible state of mind, and you shouldn't delete and answer because I suggested a different approach to backing it up. To reiterate, I haven't. and won't downvote yor answer.
3
 
bobble
bobble
But the point was he did do symbolism, and backed it up with explanation of physical properties, which is what I tried to do. Apparently I failed miserably, so be it.
 
Spagirl
Spagirl
I'm sorry if i have caused you some distress, again.
 
bobble
bobble
I don't normally react like this. I'd blame a recent increase in my medication dosage if that wasn't a complete cop-out of responsibility.
 
Spagirl
Spagirl
@bobble I hadn't followed your link when I responded initially, and didn't realise you meant you has 12 hits in Watership Down I thought you meant you had 12 potential back-up sources.
Whether you should or could pull in all those references is actually a really interesting question and I think could be worth exploring, given that the original question asked 'What, if anything, does this signify?' The other references might make a stronger argument, or they might leave on thinking, sometimes a tree is just a tree.
 
Bookworm
Bookworm
3:36 PM
0
Q: 'Yawl write, hear?' Meaning

Akash JainI am currently reading To kill a mocking bird by Harper Lee, in chaper 6 there is a sentence by Dill before leaving he says 'Yawl write, hear? What does this sentence means? Does it mean that they should write letters to each other?? Like you all should write, hear me? Or is it something el...

meaning harper-lee to-kill-a-mockingbird
 
Spagirl
Spagirl
3:52 PM
@Bobble This is the sort of source that i would love to see in an answer like yours. 'Plant Lore, Legends, and Lyrics
Embracing the Myths, Traditions, Superstitions, and
Folk-Lore of the Plant Kingdom' https://www.gutenberg.org/files/44638/44638-h/44638-h.htm
 
bobble
bobble
If I find time to return to the answer I'll pull in references from the text itself
 
Spagirl
Spagirl
It dates from 1884 and while he might not give his sources at every turn, be does detail where the different lore is applicable to and being of some vintage at least indicates that the values attached to the plants weren't dreamt up by a woo-blogger last week. As a source itself it bredates Watership Down, which I think, on reflection, is important.
and one that note I'll leave the subject and just say that I hope you feel better soon.
 
bobble
bobble
I loathe having to search through outside sources for important parts of answers; I much prefer confining my analysis to the text itself. The links in my answer were really supposed to show the variety of possible meanings before I argued that a particular one made sense if one looked at the surrounding text.
My favorite answers here are things like the one about the Giant's Drink or my timeline, where all that is required is a close reading of the original text and a dash of analysis.
Why am I even talking, gah. I know that I lose logical faculties and start rambling when I'm like this.
 
Bookworm
Bookworm
4:25 PM
0
Q: Plot differences between the 1977 version and 1997 rewrite of "Demon Seed"

bestofthebeastWhat's the difference in terms of plot between the 1977 version and 1997 rewrite of Demon Seed by Dean Koontz? Spoilers are welcome.

textual-history demon-seed dean-koontz
 
Spagirl
Spagirl
4:59 PM
@bobble 'to show the variety of possible meanings before I argued that a particular one made sense', and that may well work if you can develop justification, from the text, why it was specifically elder blossom rather than any other plant in the book which you are associating with rebirth. Why not Loosestrife, Sanfoin, Tormentil, Water Mint, Yarrow, Cow Parsley or even beans...? Why Elder? food for thought, rather than a demand for a response. Take care and don't stress over it.
 
Napoleon Wilson
Napoleon Wilson
5:17 PM
@bobble No, that part actually makes sense, don't worry.
(Well, I don't know that answer, but the general sentiment is appreciable.)
 
 
2 hours later…
Bookworm
Bookworm
7:22 PM
0
Q: What is the reference to the sixth month of pregnancy in Ulysses?

EllIn the annotations in Penguin's Ulysses: Annotated Student Edition, Kiberd says that "the six month of pregnancy" beings in the paragraph "Our worthy acquaintance, Mr Malachi Mulligan, now appeared..." He offers no explanation as to why he thinks this section begins the sixth month of pregnancy. ...

ulysses
 
b_jonas
b_jonas
7:58 PM
@user14111 thank you for the copyediting comments, I edited literature.stackexchange.com/a/19336/139
 
Tsundoku
Tsundoku
8:52 PM
Not every question can be answered without referencing other sources. Not even all interpretation questions.
 
bobble
bobble
9:05 PM
And I'm comfortable with getting sources when that's the point of the question. I simply prefer to separate the research answers from the analysis answers.
 

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