Appendix:Kurt Vonnegut

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American science fiction author Kurt Vonnegut was born in Indianapolis in 1922 and died in 2007, having written 14 novels, over 100 short stories, and a variety of miscellaneous works such as plays, a children's book, and so on. Vonnegut frequently included coinages to explain his absurdist scenarios and his particular perspective.

blivit
In the introduction to the autobiographical collection Palm Sunday (1981), Vonnegut calls the work a “blivit” due to its unique combination of fiction and non-fiction resulting in an “all-frequencies assault on the sensibilities”. He further explains that when he was a youth, he and his friends defined it as “two pounds of shit in a one-pound bag”.
boko-maru
The supreme act of worship of the Bokononists, which is an intimate act consisting of prolonged physical contact between the naked soles of the feet of two persons
Bokononism
A fictional religion in Cat’s Cradle (1963), named after the religion’s founder plus -ism. Bokonism is the source of many Vonnegut coinages.
duffle
The destiny of thousands of people placed on one idiot.
duprass
A karass of only two people, who almost always die within a week of each other.
foma
In the preface to Wampeters, Foma and Granfalloons, “harmless untruths, intended to comfort simple souls”.
granfalloon
In the preface to Wampeters, Foma and Granfalloons, “a proud and meaningless association of human beings”.
karass
A group of persons connected in a meaningful manner.
kan-kan
Something that brings a person into a karass.
pool-pah
A shit storm.
saroon
To acquiesce to a vin-dit
sin-wat
A person who wants all of someone else’s love
sinookas
The intertwining elements of person’s lives.
stuppa
An idiot in Bokonism.
Tralfamadore, Tralfamadorians
A planet whose inhabitants experience all of time simultaneously; the inhabitants of that planet
wampeter
In the preface to Wampeters, Foma and Granfalloons, “an object around which the lives of many otherwise unrelated people may revolve”.
wrang-wrang
Someone who distracts a Bokononist away that person’s line of perception.
vin-dit
A sudden shove in the direction of Bokononism.
zah-mah-ki-bo
Inevitable destiny.

References

  1. ^ Vonnegut, Kurt (1981) “Introduction”, in Palm Sunday, page xii
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Vonnegut, Kurt (1974) “Preface”, in Wampeters, Foma, & Granfalloons (Opinions), page xiii

Further reading

  • Critical Companion to Kurt Vonnegut: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work by Susan Elizabeth Farrell (2008), Facts on File, →ISBN
  • The Vonnegut Encyclopedia (Revised and Updated Edition) by Marc Leeds (2016-10-25), Delacorte Press, →ISBN.