Literary notes about dysfunctional (AI summary)
The term "dysfunctional" is used in literature to signal a breakdown or failure in systems, relationships, and even bodily functions. In socio-political contexts, it often describes institutions—be they governmental, legal, or financial—that are unable to perform their intended roles, thereby undermining social cohesion or economic stability [1][2][3][4][5][6]. In contrast, when applied to personal or familial settings, it highlights the deep-seated issues within relationships or individual behaviors, contributing to narratives of personal struggle or domestic disintegration [7][8][9]. Moreover, its use in scientific or metaphorical contexts—such as in discussions of brain tissue or evocative dreamscapes—serves to blur the line between literal malfunction and a broader commentary on systemic decay or fragmented identity [10][11][12][13][14].
- It is this unaccomplished, uneasy metamorphosis that tore the social fabric of CEE apart, rendering it poisoned and dysfunctional.
— from After the Rain : how the West lost the East by Samuel Vaknin - The West knew that these institutions were dysfunctional – but not to which breathtaking extent.
— from After the Rain : how the West lost the East by Samuel Vaknin - Fear of renewed political instability and a dysfunctional legal system coupled with extensive government corruption discourage foreign investment.
— from The 2005 CIA World Factbook by United States. Central Intelligence Agency - The market failure, at this stage, is so pervasive that all the self-balancing and allocation mechanisms are rendered dysfunctional.
— from After the Rain : how the West lost the East by Samuel Vaknin - Arms smuggling is a by-product of criminalized societies, destitution, and dysfunctional institutions.
— from Financial Crime and Corruption by Samuel Vaknin - Fear of renewed political instability and a dysfunctional legal system coupled with government corruption discourage foreign investment.
— from The 2004 CIA World Factbook by United States. Central Intelligence Agency - Marie was an artisan and musician from Seattle who grew up back East in an upper-middle class dysfunctional family.
— from How and When to Be Your Own Doctor by Isabel A. Moser - Dad and second-wife run a retreat in West Hollywood for sexually dysfunctional couples.
— from Eastern Standard Tribe by Cory Doctorow - It's funny, but after you break up a family, no matter how dysfunctional, you start repressing the bad memories.
— from Syndrome by Thomas Hoover - Nonetheless, the fragmented and partly dysfunctional WANK worm was causing a major crisis inside several US government agencies.
— from Underground: Hacking, madness and obsession on the electronic frontier by Suelette Dreyfus - We're actually replacing the dysfunctional tissue in the cortical and hippocampal regions of the brain, so we're working with the body.
— from Syndrome by Thomas Hoover - There were other ways to try to strengthen a dysfunctional heart.
— from Syndrome by Thomas Hoover - The bizarreness of the scene rippled through me like the shards of a dysfunctional dream.
— from Life Blood by Thomas Hoover - But it would be an equal and opposite mistake to think that this is just about a dysfunctional discourse of intellectual property.
— from The Public Domain: Enclosing the Commons of the Mind by James Boyle
