“It was the year when they finally immanentized the eschaton.”
An unbelievably important line, from an unimaginably important book. This is the first line from the Illunimatus! Trilogy and it speaks to the present generation as much as (if not more than) it has ever spoken to any other. I don’t want to discuss the book, its political leanings, or its philosophical underpinnings. What would make me happy, for the moment, is to discuss the grammatical structure of its first line.
“Immanentized the eschaton”
This is a very, very special phrase for many very, very crazy people. I say this as someone who counts himself among the ranks of the very, very crazy. Of course, I mean no disrespect: hail Eris and all hail Discordia. What I would like to bring to attention is a very important grammatical understanding of this phrase.
Rule #1: Grammar is glamor, and glamor is magic. I dare you to test the etymology of this assertion.
Here is the bit that has been troubling me for a while: immanent vs imminent. The phrase, and even the context, would lead the reader to believe that immanentizing the eschaton involves the impending, immediate end of the world. The fact that “they” have immanentized the eschaton has always led me to believe that “they” (the ubiquitous they) have brought about the end of all things in a way that is looming and immediate. There is, however, a spelling error involved in this interpretation. Imminent is not spelled immanent. The truth is that “they” have brought about the end of all things by “existing or operating within.”
Perhaps, if you’ve read the book, you’ve wondered about the same thing, or perhaps you just know these things. If so, I’m jealous. If not, here’s what I’ve learned (according to the OED):
Immanent: existing or operating within
Imminent: about to happen
Seriously. It seems like an obscure and senseless distinction (and it may be), but the truth is that this opening line makes sense of the rest of the novel in ways that I had never considered before. This is my thought about the two conflicting terms, on a purely superficial and sarcastic grammatical level:
Imminent: should take place in less than less than 1000 pages.
Immanent: should consist of people operating within certain frameworks (secret societies, perhaps).
If this helps, i’m happy. If not, you’re obviously doing something wrong.