Literary notes about IMPERSONAL (AI summary)
The term "impersonal" in literary discourse carries several intertwined meanings, ranging from grammatical constructs to broad, abstract forces. In some works, it designates a narrative or stylistic detachment—for instance, a character’s demeanor may be described as detached and remote, setting them apart from more vividly personal descriptions [1, 2, 3]. Philosophical and sociological texts deploy the term to denote forces or principles that underlie social order and morality, suggesting that conflicts, ideologies, or even deities can be conceptually impersonal, lacking individualized personality [4, 5, 6, 7]. Additionally, in a grammatical context, "impersonal" is used to classify constructions where the verb’s subject is either generic or entirely omitted, underscoring an objective stance in language [8, 9, 10]. This multifaceted usage underscores literature’s ongoing exploration of the tension between the subjective, personal realm and the broader, often indifferent, forces that shape human existence [11, 12].
- In the midst of the personified impersonal, a personality stands here.
— from Moby Dick; Or, The Whale by Herman Melville - The expression of his eyes changed, became less impersonal, as if he were looking almost at her, for the truth of her.
— from The Rainbow by D. H. Lawrence - His face had always the same still, clarified, almost childlike look, impersonal.
— from The Rainbow by D. H. Lawrence - One of these is essentially impersonal: it is the spiritual principle serving as the soul of the group.
— from The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life by Émile Durkheim - But the Australian does not represent this impersonal force in an abstract form.
— from The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life by Émile Durkheim - The concept is an essentially [Pg 434] impersonal representation; it is through it that human intelligences communicate.
— from The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life by Émile Durkheim - Yet it is an impersonal god, without name or history, immanent in the world and diffused in an innumerable multitude of things.
— from The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life by Émile Durkheim - For the impersonal use of the third person singular passive, as pugnātur , there is fighting , pugnandum est , there must be fighting , see 724 .
— from A Latin Grammar for Schools and Colleges by George Martin Lane - It , 56 ; impersonal, 58 ; expletive, 58 , 135 , 161 , 175 f.; cognate object, 58 . /I
— from An Advanced English Grammar with Exercises by Frank Edgar Farley and George Lyman Kittredge - A verb with an indeterminate subject, designated in English by it , is called impersonal.
— from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson - There is a contradiction in conceiving it as personal; and there is a contradiction in conceiving it as impersonal.
— from Know the Truth: A Critique on the Hamiltonian Theory of Limitation by Jesse Henry Jones - Yet there is a valid distinction between knowledge which is objective and impersonal, and thinking which is subjective and personal.
— from Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education by John Dewey
