Continuity (pronounced kon-tn-oo-i-tee or kon-tn-yoo-i-tee)
(1) The state or quality of being continuous; logical
sequence, cohesion or connection; lack of interruption.
(2) A continuous or connected whole.
(3) In political science, as “continuity theory”, an
approach to twentieth century German historiography which focuses on structural
and sociological continuities between eras (including pre-twentieth century
influences and traditions).
(4) In narratology, a narrative device in episodic
fiction where previous and/or future events in a series of stories are
accounted for in present stories.
(5) As bicontinuity (the sate of being bicontinuous), (1)
in topology: homeomorphic (a continuous bijection from one topological space to
another, with continuous inverse) and (2) in physics, chemistry (of a liquid
mixture), being a continuous phase composed of two immiscible liquids
interacting through rapidly changing hydrogen bonds.
(6) In film production, as “continuity girl” (the now
archaic title in film production (now called “continuity supervisor” or “script
supervisor”)) for the person responsible for ensuring the details in each scene
conform to the continuity of the narrative.
(7) In film production, the scenario (in the industry jargon
a synonym of “continuity”) of script, scenes, camera angles, details of verisimilitude
etc, in the sequence in which they should appear in the final cut.
(8) In fiction (especially in television series but also
in film and literature), as “continuity nod”, a reference, to part of the plot
of a previous series, volume, episode etc.
(9) In audio & visual production (radio, podcasts,
television, internet et al), the spoken part of a script that which provides introductory,
transitional or concluding material in non-dramatic (documentaries and such) programmes
(some production houses include in their staff establishment the position “continuity
announcer”).
(10) In
film projection, the continuous projection of a film, using automatic rewind.
(11) In mathematics, a characteristic property of a
continuous function.
(12) In mathematics, as semicontinuity (of a function),
the state of being semicontinuous (that it is continuous almost everywhere,
except at certain points at which it is either upper semi-continuous or lower
semi-continuous).
(13) In mathematics, as equicontinuity, (of a family of
functions), the state of being equicontinuous (such that all members are
continuous, with equal variation in a given neighborhood). The Lipschitz continuity was named after
German mathematician Rudolf Lipschitz (1832–1903); the Scott continuity was
named after US logician Dana Scott (b 1932).
(14) In mathematics, as hemicontinuity, the state of
being hemicontinuous (having the property that if a sequence of points in the
domain of a function converges to a point L, then either the sequence of sets
that are the images of those points contains a sequence that converges to a
point that is in the image of L, or, alternatively, for every element in the
image of L, there will be a sub-sequence in the domain whose image contains a
convergent sequence to that element.
(15) In marketing, in the plural, as “continuities”, sets of merchandise, given away for free or sold cheaply as promotional tool (the idea being the continuity of the customers returning).
1375–1425: From the late Middle English continuite (uninterrupted connection of parts in space or time), from the Old & Middle French continuité, from the Latin continuitatem (nominative continuitās) (a connected series (the construct being continu(us) (continuous) + -itās (equivalent to the English continu(e) + -ity), from continuus (joining, connecting with something; following one after another) from the intransitive verb continere (to be uninterrupted (literally “to hang together”). The –ity suffix was from the French -ité, from the Middle French -ité, from the Old French –ete & -eteit (-ity), from the Latin -itātem, from -itās, from the primitive Indo-European suffix –it. It was cognate with the Gothic –iþa (-th), the Old High German -ida (-th) and the Old English -þo, -þu & -þ (-th). It was used to form nouns from adjectives (especially abstract nouns), thus most often associated with nouns referring to the state, property, or quality of conforming to the adjective's description. Continuity is a noun, continuance, & continuousness are nouns, continue is a verb, continuous & continual are adjectives and continually is an adverb; the noun plural is continuities.
The adjective continuous (characterized by continuity,
not affected by disconnection or interruption) dates from the 1640s and was
from either the French continueus or
directly from the Latin continuus. The verb continue (was in use by at least the
mid-fourteenth century) in the form contynuen
(maintain, sustain, preserve) which by the late 1300s has assumed the meaning “go
forward or onward; persevere in”. It was
from the thirteenth century Old French continuer and directly from Latin continuare (join together in
uninterrupted succession, make or be continuous, do successively one after
another), from continuus. The sense of “to carry on from the point of
suspension” emerged early in the fifteenth century while the meaning “to remain
in a state, place, or office” dates from the early 1400s, the transitive sense
of “to extend from one point to another” was first documented in the 1660s. The word entered the legal lexicon with the
meaning “to postpone a hearing or trial” in the mid fifteenth century.
The noun continuation (act or fact of continuing or prolonging; extension in time or space) dates from the late 1300s, from the thirteenth century Old French continuation and directly from the Latin continuationem (nominative continuatio) (a following of one thing after another), a noun of action from past-participle stem of continuare. The adjective continual was from the early fourteenth century continuell (proceeding without interruption or cessation; often repeated, very frequent), from the twelfth century Old French continuel and directly from the Latin continuus. The noun continuance (perseverance, a keeping up, a going on) dates from the mid-fourteenth century, from the thirteenth century Old French continuance, from continuer. Continuance seems to have been the first of the family to appear in the terminology of legal proceedings, used since the late fourteenth century in the sense of “a holding on or remaining in a particular state”, in courts this by the early fifteenth had extended to “the deferring of a trial or hearing to a future date” and in some jurisdictions lawyers to this day still file an “application for continuation”. The now widely used discontinuation (of legal proceedings; of a product range etc) has existed since at least the 1610s in the sense of “interruption of continuity, separation of parts which form a connected series” and was from the fourteenth century French discontinuation, from the Medieval Latin discontinuationem (nominative discontinuatio), noun of action from past-participle stem of discontinuare.
Page 1 of IMDb's (Internet Movie Database) listing of discontinuities in Mean Girls (2004).
In film production, the job
title “continuity girl” seems to have been retired in favor of “continuity
supervisor” or “script supervisor”, one of the terms culled in the process of
gender neutrality which also claimed most of the “best boys” (they’re now styled
with titles such as “assistant chief lighting technician” or “second lighting
technician”. Whether myth or not, the
industry legend is the “best boy” job title really did begin with the request “give me your best
boy” although that wasn’t something as ominous as now it may sound. The first known reference to a continuity
girl in a film’s credits was in the US 1918 and the job involved ensuring the “continuity”
(in the industry “scenario” is synonymous) of the final cut appeared as a
seamless narrative. The job was required
because although a single scene in a film might appear to be a contiguous few
minutes, the parts assembled in the editing process to produce it may be made
up of takes shot days or even months weeks and possibly in different
places. Among a myriad of tasks, what a continuity
girl had to do was maintain a database with the details of each piece of film
(vital for the editing process) and ensure the details of each shot (clothes,
haircuts, props (including their exact placement) and environment (climate,
time of day etc) are in accordance with the previous footage. The detail can be as simple as the time
displayed on a wall clock and it matters because there’s a minor industry of
film buffs who go through things frame-by-frame looking for discontinuities,
all of which gleefully they’ll catalogue on various internet sites.
Three covers used for Leah McLaren’s The Continuity Girl (2007, left); not all Chick lit titles used vibrant or pastel shades in the cover art. The Continuity Girl (2018, right) by Dr Patrick Kincaid (b 1966) is an unrelated title.
The Continuity Girl (2007) was the debut novel of Canadian journalist Leah
McLaren (b 1975), the protagonist being a continuity girl named Meredith Moore. A classic piece of Chick lit (the construct
being chick (slang for “a young woman” + lit(erature)), a now unfashionable
term describing novels focused on women and their feelings) the plotline
involves Ms Moore’s biological clock tick-tocking to the psychological moment
on her 35th birthday; she wakes up with a sudden acute yearning for
a baby. In a Chick lit sort of way, he
solution to leave her predictably pleasant Canadian life and head for London
where she plans to select a man on the basis of her assessment of his genetic
suitability for breeding, seduce him and, in the way these things happen, fall
pregnant. Things of course don’t work
out quite that effortlessly but, being Chick lit, there’s much
self-realization, self-discovery and self-expression on the path to a happy
ending.
In political science, “continuity theory” is an approach (in
two aspects) to twentieth century German historiography which focuses on
structural and sociological continuities between eras (including pre-twentieth
century influences and traditions). The
first aspect was the notion there existed “continuity” in the persistent
influence of long-term social, political, cultural, and institutional
developments in German history, dating at least from the time of Martin Luther
(1483–1546) contributed to the particular nature of Imperial Germany (1871-1918),
the failure of the Weimar Republic (1918-1933) and the Führerprinzip (Leader Principle) which,
structurally, was the distinguishing feature of the Third Reich (1933-1945). This idea has underpinned a number of major
historical studies but has always been contested because another faction (which
has at times included a significant proportion of the German population) which
argues that Nazism was uniquely radical
and an aberration in the nation’s history.
Most controversially, some proponents of continuity theory extend the
application to the post war years, examining how former Nazis, neo-Nazis and
their ideologies persisted (and at times have flourished) both in the FRG
(Federal Republic of Germany; the old West Germany (1949-1990)) and the unified
state formed 1990 after the FRG absorbed the GDR (German Democratic Republic (the
old East Germany)).
The theory’s other aspect was structural and was
essentially an analysis of the extent to which the Nazi state operated under
the constitutional and administrative arrangements inherited from the Weimar
Republic, the state which Adolf Hitler (1889-1945; Führer (leader) and German
head of government 1933-1945 & head of state 1934-1945) claimed “his” National Socialist revolution had
overthrown. The indisputable fact that
the Nazi dictatorship was fundamentally different from Weimar at the time
obscured the continuity but maintaining the Weimar constitution was hardly
unique. Hitler choose also to adapt the
existing mixed economic model, something which upset some of the more
idealistic souls in his movement who had taken seriously the “socialist” bit in
“National Socialism” and led to the infamous Nacht der langen Messer (Night of
the Long Knives), also called Unternehmen
Kolbri (Operation Hummingbird) a purge executed between 30 June-2 July
1934, when the regime carried out a number of extrajudicial executions,
ostensibly to crush what was referred to as “the Röhm Putsch” (Ernst Röhm
(1887–1934; chief of the Sturmabteilung (the stormtroopers (the SA)), head of
the four-million strong SA had certainly in the past hinted at one but there’s
no doubt no such thing was imminent).
The USGS’s (US Geological Survey (1879)) depiction of the Mohorovičić discontinuity (the Moho).
The Mohorovičić discontinuity (which geologists tend to
call “the Moho”) is the boundary between the Earth's crust and mantle, the
extent defined by the distinct change in velocity of seismic waves as they pass
through changing densities of rock. The phenomenon
is named after Croatian geophysicist Andrija Mohorovičić (1857–1936; one of the
seminar figures in modern seismology), who first published his findings (based
on seismographic observations of shallow-focus earthquakes) in 1909.
