Wordnik.com: States of mind: from absurdistan to zion: Comments

Comment by rolig, about 1 year ago

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 17:34:27 +0000

Thanks for the suggestions, c_b and trailingedge! All added, plus a couple more that your suggestions suggested.

Comment by trailingedge, about 1 year ago

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 17:17:32 +0000

Interesting list rolig. Would the burbs, nowheresville, the back country fit in?

Comment by chained_bear, about 1 year ago

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 16:51:02 +0000

Or the Old West. :) Cool list, rolig! (but you knew that already!)

Comment by rolig, about 1 year ago

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 13:19:51 +0000

Prolagus, I agree that in the Proulx's short story, Brokeback Mountain becomes a symbol of the men's love. For this list, I am looking for places that have transcended their original context and, in a sense, entered the language. Some of the places I have listed are no longer very familiar to most English speakers (e.g. [Armida's Castle] - though as someone educated in Italy you are probably familiar with this Tasso reference), but at one time (200 years ago) they would have been readily recognized. When gay couples start saying things like, "Scranton was our Brokeback Mountain," then it goes on the list.

In America we don't say the "Far West", we normally just say "the West", or, if we are referring to the world of coboys and Indians, sheriffs and bad guys, we say the "Wild West" and that should definitely be here. Thanks!

Comment by Prolagus, about 1 year ago

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 18:50:51 +0000

In Italy (only in Italy?) we use Far West to mean the American frontier dream.
In Brokeback Mountain, the place becomes a symbol of the only chance that the two men have to meet and love each other, so it's more than just a "place". I really loved the way they always referred to B.M. in the movie.

Comment by rolig, about 1 year ago

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 17:59:57 +0000

Bilby, I'm not yet convinced that cyberspace is a "state of mind" as I understand it, a place that exerts some power over the imagination or that symbolizes some state of being.

Prolagus, remind me what Far West refers to – is this a Tolkienian reference? (But your suggestion does make me realize that I forgot Far East and Orient, both toponyms with imaginative and symbolic power. I'm not sure that Brokeback Mountain belongs here, but then I'm a little out of touch. Can you give me an example of how it might be used as a "state of mind"? I'm more persuaded by Klondike as a locus of the imagination.

Comment by Prolagus, about 1 year ago

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 14:15:31 +0000

I'd suggest Brokeback Mountain, Far West, and Klondike.

Comment by bilby, about 1 year ago

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 14:13:35 +0000

I'm watching Scottish football at the moment :-7

Comment by bilby, about 1 year ago

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 14:12:59 +0000

Hoo aboot cyberspace?

Comment by rolig, about 1 year ago

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 18:37:25 +0000

Funness is best when mished and mashed.

Thanks for the permission to purloin, whichbe!

Comment by reesetee, about 1 year ago

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 18:24:23 +0000

Yes, I understand, rolig--yours is a far more symbolic and targeted list than mine, which is just a big mishmash of fun-ness. :-)

Whichbe, thanks for pointing to your list--hadn't seen it before!

Comment by whichbe, about 1 year ago

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 17:47:03 +0000

Feel free to grab-up stuff from Displacemattes, too.

Comment by rolig, about 1 year ago

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 17:36:24 +0000

Thanks, reesetee! I like your list, and may just do a little borrowing from it. I am trying to keep my list to places (some real, like america and san francisco) that have come to exert some power over the imagination, that symbolize some ideal (utopia), horror (third reich), delight (shangri-la) or frustration (kakania and absurdistan).

Comment by reesetee, about 1 year ago

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 16:18:19 +0000

Nice list, rolig. Although it has quite a different slant, you may want to pinch from my "Long, Strange Trip" list. :-)