Concept in Kurt Vonnegut's Bokononism
This article is about some intentionally cryptic concepts. For the heraldic and military flags, see
gonfalon
.
A
granfalloon
, in the fictional religion of
Bokononism
(created by
Kurt Vonnegut
in his 1963 novel
Cat's Cradle
), is defined as a "false
karass
". That is, it is a group of people who affect a shared identity or purpose, but whose mutual association is meaningless.
As quoted in
And So It Goes: Kurt Vonnegut: A Life
(2011) by
Charles J. Shields
, Vonnegut writes in his introduction to his book
Wampeters, Foma and Granfalloons
(1974) that a "granfalloon is a proud and meaningless collection of human beings"; Shields also comments that in the same book, Vonnegut later cites the
demonym
of '
Hoosiers
' as "one of [Vonnegut's] favorite examples" of what the term embodies. Another example of a granfalloon given in
Cat's Cradle
is 'alumni of
Cornell University
'. Kurt Vonnegut himself was born in
Indiana
and attended Cornell University.
Examples
[
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]
The most commonly purported granfalloons are associations and societies based on a shared but ultimately fabricated premise. Examples from
Cat's Cradle
include: "the
Communist Party
, the
Daughters of the American Revolution
, the
General Electric Company
?and any
nation
, anytime, anywhere." A more general and oft-cited quote defines a granfalloon as "a proud and meaningless association of human beings."
[1]
Other examples of
granfalloons
cited in the novel include
Hoosiers
, which included the fictional narrator (and Vonnegut himself); and Cornellians (those who attended
Cornell University
)?which also included the fictional narrator and Vonnegut himself.
If you wish to examine a granfalloon, just remove the skin of a toy balloon. ? Bokonon
"My God," she said, "are you a Hoosier?"
I admitted I was.
"I'm a Hoosier, too," she crowed. "Nobody has to be ashamed of being a Hoosier."
"I'm not," I said. "I never knew anybody who was."
? Kurt Vonnegut,
Cat's Cradle
"His gaze lit on Newt again. "You go to college?"
"Cornell," said Newt.
"Cornell!" cried Crosby gladly. "My God, I went to Cornell."
"So did he." Newt nodded at me.
"Three Cornellians ? all in the same plane!" said Crosby, and we had another granfalloon festival on our hands.
? Kurt Vonnegut,
Cat's Cradle
They had found a can of white paint, and on the front doors of the cab Frank had painted white stars, and on the roof he had painted the letters of a granfalloon: U.S.A.
? Kurt Vonnegut,
Cat's Cradle
In the English translations of the several entries of the popular video game series
Castlevania
, the name Granfalloon has been used as an alternate name to represent the Judeo-Christian demon Legion. Particularly noted in
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
as a mass of living corpses whom the protagonist
Alucard
, son of
Dracula
, fights against as one of the game's many bosses. Series director
Koji Igarashi
(a.k.a. Iga) is a noted fan of
Kurt Vonnegut
and selected this alternate name for Legion, as he believed the Vonnegut concept to be a perfect representation for that boss.
[
citation needed
]
Granfalloon technique
[
edit
]
For a sport festival, participants are randomly split into color groups.
The
granfalloon technique
is a method of persuasion in which individuals are encouraged to identify with a particular granfalloon or social group.
[2]
The pressure to identify with a group is meant as a method of securing the individual's loyalty and commitment through adoption of the group's symbols, rituals, and beliefs.
In social psychology, the concept stems from research by the Polish social psychologist
Henri Tajfel
, whose findings have come to be known as the
minimal group paradigm
. In his research, Tajfel found that strangers would form groups on the basis of completely inconsequential criteria.
In one study, Tajfel subjects were asked to watch a coin toss. They were then designated to a particular group based on whether the coin landed on heads or tails. The subjects placed in groups based on such meaningless associations between them have consistently been found to "act as if those sharing the meaningless labels were kin or close friends."
[3]
Researchers since Tajfel have made strides into unraveling the mystery behind this phenomenon. Today it is broken down into two basic psychological processes, one cognitive and one motivational.
First, knowing that one is a part of this group is used to make sense of the world. When one associates with a particular group, those in the group focus on the similarities between the members. However, for people not in the group, or "outsiders," differences are focused upon and often exaggerated. A problem with the granfalloon is that it often leads to
in-group, out-group
bias
.
Second,
social groups
provide a source of self-esteem and pride, a form of reverse
Groucho Marxism
as in his famous remark "I don't care to belong to any club that would have me as a member."
[4]
The
imagined communities
of
Benedict Anderson
form a similar concept. Therapist Grant Devilly considers that granfalloons are one explanation for how
pseudoscientific
topics are promoted.
[5]
See also
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