Hello okieprof:
Thanks for the fascinating question. Being a big Vonnegut fan, I was
eager to answer this one.
The proper terms you are looking for are "granfalloon" and "karass",
and do indeed come from Vonnegut's novel "Cat's Cradle."
The best, most straightforward distinction between the two terms that
I could find was at:
Information Granfalloons
URL: http://www.kcoyle.net/granfalloons.html
where the terms are defined as follows:
"A granfalloon is a recognized grouping of people that, underneath it
all, has no real meaning. The prototypical granfaloon in Vonnegut's
book is Hoosiers: the main character of the book finds himself
journeying to an island nation in the company of fellow Indianans, but
other than the fact that they hail from the same state they have no
significance in each other's lives."
"The opposite of a granfalloon, or at least one alternative, is the
karass. These are the people whose lives are entwined in yours in
mysterious yet profound ways. Often they are not part of any of your
more obvious granfalloons, but in the end it is their presence on this
earth that has great influence of the direction of your own life.
Recognizing members of your karass is not an easy thing and some you
may never identify, but part of the spiritual mission of Bokononists
is to celebrate their karass."
I hope this information helps with your research.
If you need any clarification of the information I have provided,
please ask using the clarification feature and provide me with
additional details as to what you are looking for. As well, please
allow me to provide you with clarification(s) *before* you rate this
answer.
Thank you.
websearcher-ga
Search Strategy (on Google):
granfalloon Vonnegut |
