Subliminally Sublime

I made this note to myself on October 17th, but I never got around to looking it up or blogging about it . . .

Bloom (pg 244) says "uncanniness is the peculiar mark of sublimity in the extraordinary dialogue J writes for Yahweh and Moses in Exodus 3" (Moses at the burning bush). As we discussed in class numerous times, Bloom loves to describe J as "uncanny." However the word that jumped out to me in that quote was "sublime."

The term sublime came up again in Bloom's discussion of Ex 24:10 (Moses seeing God, sapphire pavement, etc) on pg 255. Bloom described J as being at her most "uncanniest" (there's that word again) but then he goes on to refer to her as "the true Western Sublime."

In class we defined sublime as something so overwhelming it is great and terrible at the same time. My own personal experience with sublime is the Grand Canyon. It was incredibly, amazingly beautiful but terrifying at the same time (it's a long way to the bottom after all).

Etymology fascinates me, so I had to know the root of the word sublime - especially since "sub" means under or beneath. According to Dictionary.com, sublime may be of unclear origin, but one definition is "beneath the lintel." Huh? Or it could be that sublime is an old French word that derived from a Latin word sublmis, meaning uplifted.

I like the "beneath the lintel" definition - makes me think of being terrified and awed all while standing in a doorway.

To make it even more confusing - subliminal (or "subliminable" as the current occupant of the White House says) means under the threshold (or lintel).