What is in a date?

The beginning of the year can symbolize many things. In general, this date signifies a social ritual of togetherness and hope for improvement. It may indicate belief in the fortuitous course of one’s nation but also convey a more diffuse sentiment of broad optimism in the future of the world, something which the date “January 1” has begun to represent in the global tradition of the common era. In the context of a law-based polity, a specific date also may denote the validity of a contractual agreement or the moment when a trusted economic promise is either validated or becomes disproven and meaningless. It may stand for a celebration of life or mark a gravestone. In the language of post-Christian, and perennially fleeting, globalized-populist culture a la Americaine, “dates” even have taken on a divergent meaning as conjoined hallmarks of sex and sports. In contemporary Hollywood-infused imagery, these “dates” are