Archive for October 12th, 2007

A Fragment of the Imagination: Part 1

Friday, October 12th, 2007

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Today we’re going to start with a quiz.

• What is fragment + writing?
• What is word + fragment?

While considering this conundrum, you can read quotations about fragments. I’m hoping these quotes will block the answers from view as you ponder the issue ….

“[I am] firmly persuaded that every time a man smiles,—but much more so, when he laughs, that it adds something to this Fragment of Life.”

—Laurence Sterne (1713–1768), British author of The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman

Need a hint? OK, here you go:

• Fragment + writing: 葉書
• Word + fragment: 言葉

“Every woman is like a time zone. She is a nocturnal fragment of your journey. She brings you unflaggingly closer to the next night.”

—Cool Memories, by Jean Baudrillard (b. 1929), French semiologist

Does that clear things up, or not yet? Well, here’s an extremely big hint:

• Fragment + writing: 葉書. The yomi is hagaki.
• Word + fragment: 言葉. The yomi is kotoba.

As I viewed myself in a fragment of looking-glass…, I was so impressed with a sense of vague awe at my appearance … that I was seized with a violent tremor.

—The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket by Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), U.S. author

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Posted by Eve Kushner in Kanji Curiosity | 8 Comments »