Fanfolate what?
Clarification of my posts with the hashtag #fanfolate2023 et similia
The author of the poem collection Gnòsi delle Fànfole is the Italian anthropologist and writer Fosco Maraini. His small book was a turning point in my life, as it shows the absurd side of our lives. There is no translation in English, I am afraid, and my level of English is not adequate to provide one. His fànfole may be compared to the limericks by Lewis Carroll. I don’t know better examples in English literature.
I extend Maraini’s fànfola in fanfolate, a kind of derived product. What is it about? I capture expressions in the real-use of language(s) and I copy and paste, with the hashtag. No clarification, no attribution, and they can neither come from explicit suggestions, nor can I produce them by myself. Simple but strict rules.
Often they mix languages together, even with grammatical mistakes. Sometimes automatic correctors produce them (e.g., ‘fan folate’). I do not care. If you do not understand the meaning, it’s more than fair. Actually, sometimes it is even better. We should cease being obsessed with understanding everything in life at any cost.
That’s all, folks.
