The Event

Literary/ Cultural Context Essay

Simon Morgan-Wortham (Kingston University)

Ed. by Graham Allen, University College Cork
The Literary Encyclopedia. WORLD HISTORY AND IDEAS: A CROSS-CULTURAL VOLUME.

Domains

Concept/ Method (philosophical)
Theory, Concept, Approach (social science)

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Something happens. An event takes place. This happens all the time, perhaps, at every level of experience. One thinks of everyday events, those which fill the calendar, as well as special events, rites of passage, and also literary or historical events, those indicated by date, name and place, not forgetting of course those events on a massive scale disasters, tragedies, atrocities which seem to blight and fascinate contemporary culture on a near worldwide scale. Where or when we come to speak of the event, however, exactly what happens? To comprehend the event, any event, implies and indeed presupposes the possibility of its more or less smooth reception into established domains of intelligibility (even if this takes place after an initial period of misapprehension, confusion,…

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2270 words

Citation: Morgan-Wortham, Simon. "The Event". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 09 January 2006 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=1648, accessed 25 April 2024.]

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