Literary notes about funk (AI summary)
In literature, the word funk is frequently employed as a multifaceted term that captures moods ranging from deep melancholy to restless agitation. Characters speak of being "in a blue funk" to express feelings of anxiety or despondency ([1], [2]), while at other moments, an all-encompassing funk serves as a metaphor for a state of composite, almost transformative emotional turmoil ([3], [4]). Some passages even hint at funk as a catalyst for spontaneous action or absurd behavior, imbuing narratives with both humor and pathos ([5], [6]). This flexible usage allows writers to convey complex psychological states with vivid, memorable imagery.
- I’ll admit, Carleton, I was in a blue funk, but I just had to.
— from On the Iron at Big Cloud by Frank L. (Frank Lucius) Packard - I hope you won’t despise me for having been in a blue funk.”
— from The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare by G. K. Chesterton - It was an immeasurable and composite funk, which from its very excess gave him in the dark a false appearance of calm and thoughtful deliberation.
— from The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale by Joseph Conrad - I had never confronted a great man before, and was in a miserable state of funk and inefficiency.
— from Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World by Mark Twain - I shall say something foolish out of pure ‘funk,’ and break something for the same excellent reason; I know I shall.
— from The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - It’s energy in a gale of funk, and turned clean inside out.
— from The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells
