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Can't think of a word

Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2012 10:26 am
by The Happy Medium
I'm writing a paper and I'm trying to think of an adjective that you could use to describe something that goes through several time periods and I feel like there's a word that describes what I'm thinking of perfectly but I just can't recall what it is. Pan-historical is the only word I can think of but I think I just made that up.

If it helps the paper I'm writing is the write up for my History of Creativity project. My project is the 12 days of Christmas from 12 different cultures and it's due on Wednesday so any help before then would be great!

Re: Can't think of a word

Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2012 11:39 am
by mic0
Multigenerational?

Re: Can't think of a word

Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2012 1:01 pm
by wired
Intergenerational? That might be more limited since it evokes primarily two different generations.

Re: Can't think of a word

Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2012 2:29 pm
by S.A.M.
Transepochal, or trans-epochal sound fun.

Re: Can't think of a word

Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 2:40 am
by UffishThought
I also can't think of a word. An unrelated one.

There are coming of age stories, sometimes known as bildungsroman. The main character grows, learns, becomes more mature. But in some stories, there is no character growth. Peter Pan, for example, ends the book pretty much exactly how he began it. (Though that's not a perfect example, because Wendy is the true hero, and she grows up both literally and figuratively.) Most sitcoms are like this: the characters never really change from episode to episode, or from season to season. Is there a name for THAT type of story?

Re: Can't think of a word

Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 7:22 am
by Katya
UffishThought wrote:I also can't think of a word. An unrelated one.

There are coming of age stories, sometimes known as bildungsroman. The main character grows, learns, becomes more mature. But in some stories, there is no character growth. Peter Pan, for example, ends the book pretty much exactly how he began it. (Though that's not a perfect example, because Wendy is the true hero, and she grows up both literally and figuratively.) Most sitcoms are like this: the characters never really change from episode to episode, or from season to season. Is there a name for THAT type of story?
Hmm. That sounds sort of like what TV Tropes calls Status Quo Is God.