Banal
Banal ( French banal , Old French ban = ban; originally non-profit ) referred to a matter in feudal law that the feudal lord leaves to his vassals . In today's colloquial German , the term is mainly used as an adjective in an educationally disparaging way for an "idea content that is thought to be quite insignificant, average" also in the sense of trivial . Furthermore, it has the meaning of “nothing special, showing nothing remarkable; everyday, ordinary ”. Derived from the adjective, the nouns are banality and the verb banalize .
origin
The adjective banal for “mindless, meaningless, everyday” was borrowed into German at the end of the 18th century . The synonymous French banal is a 13th century derivation of afrz. ban "Bann", also "judicial district" (cf. banner ), which in turn corresponds to a borrowing from the Old Lower Franconian * ban , the Old High German ban (cf. Bann ). The meaning in the French language is therefore based on "banned" and leads via "intended for common use" to "general, trivial". The terms banality for "mindlessness, trite, banal utterance" were derived in the second half of the 19th century due to a Latinized education after French banalité , and the verb banalize "to draw into the banal" at the beginning of the 20th century.
Feudal right
In feudal law , banal referred to a thing that the feudal lord gave his vassal for use in return for certain consideration, according to Meyer's Großes Konversations-Lexikon 1905: “figuratively something that is left to everyone for free use; hence that which, in the highest degree, has become commonplace, trite and insignificant through frequent use. "
Pierer's Universal Lexicon defined Banāl in 1857 as follows:
“Banāl (from French Ban), 1) (feudal lord), that which is left to a vassal by a liege lord for a service; hence banality, compulsory law; 2) released for free use; 3) common, worn out; hence a banal phrase, a correct one in itself, but meaningless due to changed circumstances and the like. Ineffective saying. "
Research literature
- Julia Genz: Discourses of Valuation. Banality, triviality and kitsch. Fink, Munich 2011, ISBN 978-3-7705-5055-5 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ banal , duden.de, accessed on October 8, 2013
- ↑ Banality , Etymological Dictionary according to Pfeifer in the DWDS , accessed on October 8, 2013.
- ^ Meyer's Large Conversational Lexicon. Volume 2. Leipzig 1905, p. 321. online at zeno.org , accessed on October 8, 2013.
- ↑ online at zeno.org, accessed on October 8, 2013