Sep 23, 2005 01:09
19 yrs ago
English term

have been wrought

English Social Sciences Government / Politics
I need help understanding the sentence between asterisks. What is the meaning of "have been wrought" in this context? Many thanks :)


"I challenge you to name one account that recalls, for instance, that it was in the midst of oil frenzy in 1923 that the US first overtly entered the business of regime change, when a democratically recognized Navajo-Dine religious leadership refused to sign a contract with Standard Oil. It was at this moment (nearly simultaneous to US clandestine efforts to undermine the post-WWI nationalization of Iran’s oil industry) that the US unilaterally intervened, installed a new Navajo Council (that signed the Standard Oil contract), and established an interim constitutional regime. ***Out of this scene hundreds of native constitutional governments have been wrought across the US premised on a religious-secular divide***."

Discussion

Susana Galilea (asker) Sep 23, 2005:
Michael Yes, that was my interpretation as well. Do others concur?

Responses

+3
1 hr
Selected

have been constructed

The use of the word *wrought* here implies a degree of deliberation, implying that the councils are an artifical or unnatural creation.

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Note added at 1 hr 20 mins (2005-09-23 02:29:39 GMT)
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**fabricated* would be even better!

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Note added at 1 hr 20 mins (2005-09-23 02:29:50 GMT)
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**fabricated* would be even better!
Peer comment(s):

disagree Espoc : governments are not cunstructed
1 hr
the nuance is that the government is illegitimate
agree Rachel Fell
5 hrs
Thanks Rachel.
agree Ken Cox : agree that 'wrought', besides being rhetorical language, suggests a certain amount of artifice -- not so much 'unnatural' as formed for a specific or utilitarian purpose
9 hrs
Thanks Kenneth. I like that term "rhetorical". :-)
agree Lucy Phillips : also brings to mind the idea of something that is constructed slowly and painstakingly - I associate wrought with making something out of iron.
12 hrs
Thank you Lucy.
agree Linda 969 : with Kenneth
2 days 16 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks everyone, especially to Ruth for the linguistic info"
+7
10 mins

have been created (also built, forged, etc.)

Basically it means "created".
Peer comment(s):

agree RHELLER : yes - somewhat archaic-sounding
17 mins
Thanks, Rita.
agree jennifer newsome (X)
22 mins
Thanks, Jennifer.
agree Robert Kleemaier
2 hrs
Thanks
agree Rachel Fell
6 hrs
Thanks.
agree Bianca Jacobsohn
7 hrs
Thanks.
agree Alfa Trans (X)
10 hrs
Thanks.
agree transparx
2 days 1 hr
Thanks.
Something went wrong...
+2
2 hrs

have been formed

other possibilies: shaped, forged
Peer comment(s):

agree Rachel Fell
3 hrs
agree Carmen Schultz
4 hrs
Something went wrong...
+1
43 mins

have been brought into being

Wrought is an old form of the participle "worked", as in wrought iron. It also means "brought into being", and was quoted by Samuel Morse in his first telegraph message "What hath God wrought?", quoting Balaam in the King James version of the Bible.

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Note added at 4 hrs 29 mins (2005-09-23 05:38:57 GMT)
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have been crafted ... I do agree with Michael that there is an implication of an artificial creation.
Peer comment(s):

agree Rachel Fell
5 hrs
Thank you, Rachel!
Something went wrong...
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