Literary notes about Promoter (AI summary)
The term "promoter" in literature serves as a flexible signifier whose meaning shifts with context. In some works, it describes a person who actively encourages or instigates change—be it a catalyst for social or migratory reform, as seen in historical discussions of immigration from Norway where figures like John Luraas and Knud Anderson Slogvig are identified as pivotal promoters [1][2][3][4]. In other texts the term is employed with a humorous or ironic tone; for example, Dickens downplays a character’s willingness to promote mirth in a moment of seriousness [5], while Rabelais playfully likens the role to that of a promoter’s horse, emphasizing a more colloquial, almost cavalier aspect [6]. Additionally, in dialogues from works by Du Bois and in musings on personal excellence, the word underscores the active role of someone who champions or advocates for a cause or quality [7][8][9][10]. This varied usage demonstrates that "promoter" can simultaneously refer to a serious agent of change or reform and a character serving a more symbolic or comic function.
- His name deserves special mention as an early promoter of emigration from southwestern Norway, especially from his own province.
— from A History of Norwegian Immigration to the United States by George T. Flom - We have already, under Causes of Emigration, spoken briefly of John Luraas, who perhaps was the chief promoter of this emigration.
— from A History of Norwegian Immigration to the United States by George T. Flom - The other name, that I referred to, is that of Knud Anderson Slogvig, who undoubtedly was the chief promoter of immigration in 1836.
— from A History of Norwegian Immigration to the United States by George T. Flom - He became the chief promoter of the considerable immigration from Lower Telemarken that year.
— from A History of Norwegian Immigration to the United States by George T. Flom - ‘Pray dispense with this jesting, for I have no time, and really no inclination, to be the subject or promoter of mirth just now.’
— from Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens - By G—, I drink to all men freely, and at all fords, like a proctor or promoter’s horse.
— from Gargantua and Pantagruel by François Rabelais - "It is settled, then," said the promoter.
— from Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil by W. E. B. Du Bois - The promoter shrugged his shoulders.
— from Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil by W. E. B. Du Bois - “Again, the gentleman never envies any superior excellence, but grows himself more excellent, by being the admirer, promoter, and lover thereof.
— from The Gentlemen's Book of Etiquette and Manual of Politeness by Cecil B. Hartley - “A flattering looking glass is a promoter of amiability,” she said.
— from Anne of the Island by L. M. Montgomery
