What is "recapitulation"

Recapitulation \Re`ca*pit`u*la"tion\ (r[=e]`k[.a]*p[i^]t"[-u]*l[=a]"sh[u^]n), n. [LL. recapitulatio: cf. F. recapitulation.]

1. The act of recapitulating; a summary, or concise statement or enumeration, of the principal points, facts, or statements, in a preceding discourse, argument, or essay.

2. (Zo["o]l.) That process of development of the individual organism from the embryonic stage onward, which displays a parallel between the development of an individual animal (ontogeny) and the historical evolution of the species (phylogeny). Some authors recognize two types of recapitulation, palingenesis, in which the truly ancestral characters conserved by heredity are reproduced during development; and cenogenesis ( kenogenesis or coenogenesis), the mode of individual development in which alterations in the development process have changed the original process of recapitulation and obscured the evolutionary pathway.

   This parallel is explained by the theory of evolution, according to which, in the words of Sidgwick, "the developmental history of the individual appears to be a short and simplified repetition, or in a certain sense a recapitulation, of the course of development of the species." Examples of recapitulation may be found in the embryological development of all vertebrates. Thus the frog develops through stages in which the embryo just before hatching is very fish-like, after hatching becomes a tadpole which exhibits many newt-like characters; and finally reaches the permanent frog stage. This accords with the comparative rank of the fish, newt and frog groups in classification; and also with the succession appearance of these groups. Man, as the highest animal, exhibits most completely these phenomena. In the earliest stages the human embryo is indistinguishable from that of any other creature. A little later the cephalic region shows gill-slits, like those which in a shark are a permanent feature, and the heart is two-chambered or fish-like. Further development closes the gill-slits, and the heart changes to the reptilian type. Here the reptiles stop, while birds and mammals advance further; but the human embryo in its progress to the higher type recapitulates and leaves features characteristic of lower mammalian forms -- for instance, a distinct and comparatively long tail exists. Most of these changes are completed before the embryo is six weeks old, but some traces of primitive and obsolete structures persist throughout life as "vestiges" or "rudimentary organs," and others appear after birth in infancy, as the well-known tendency of babies to turn their feet sideways and inward, and to use their toes and feet as grasping organs, after the manner of monkeys. This recapitulation of ancestral characters in ontogeny is not complete, however, for not all the stages are reproduced in every case, so far as can be perceived; and it is irregular and complicated in various ways among others by the inheritance of acquired characters. The most special students of it, as Haeckel, Fritz M["u]tter, Hyatt, Balfour, etc., distinguish two sorts of recapitulation palingenesis, exemplified in amphibian larvae and coenogenesis, the last manifested most completely in the metamorphoses of insects. Palingenesis is recapitulation without any fundamental changes due to the later modification of the primitive method of development, while in coenogenesis, the mode of development has suffered alterations which obscure the original process of recapitulation, or support it entirely.
   --Encyclopedia Americana, 1961.

late 14c., "a summarizing," from Old French recapitulacion (13c.), from Late Latin recapitulationem (nominative recapitulatio), noun of action from past participle stem of recapitulare "go over the main points of a thing again," literally "restate by heads or chapters," from re- "again" (see re-) + capitulum "main part" (see chapter).

n. 1 A subsequent brief recitement or enumeration of the major points in a narrative, article, or book. 2 (context music English) The third major section of a musical movement written in sonata form, representing thematic material that originally appeared in the exposition section. 3 (context biology English) The reenactment of the embryonic development in evolution of the species. 4 (context theology English) The symmetry provided by Christ's life to the teachings of the Old Testament; the summation of human experience in Jesus Christ.

1. n. emergence during embryonic development of various characters or structures that appeared during the evolutionary history of the strain or species [syn: palingenesis] [ant: cenogenesis]

2. a section of a musical composition or movement in which themes introduced earlier are repeated

3. a summary at the end that repeats the substance of a longer discussion [syn: recap, review]

Recapitulation may refer to:

• Recapitulation (music), a section of musical sonata form where the exposition is repeated in an altered form and the development is concluded
• Recapitulation theory, a scientific theory influential on but no longer accepted in its original form by both evolutionary and developmental biology, namely, that the congruence in form between the same embryonic developmental stages of different species is evidence that the embryos are repeating the evolutionary stages of their ancestral history
• Recapitulation theory of atonement, first clearly expressed by Irenaeus
• Recapitulation (Castaneda), a spiritual practice appearing first in the writings of Carlos Castaneda and later in those of Miguel Ángel Ruiz, Victor Sanchez and others
• Recapitulation (Dentistry-Endodontics), Recapitulation is sequential reentry and reused of each previous instrument. Throughout the deriding or filing process, the root canal must be recapitulated. A smaller diameter file is intermittently and finally inserted to the measured apical length and the small bits of debris that are packed into the apex are removed to insure total canal debridement. Recapitulation is a necessity for proper endodontic success.

In music theory, the recapitulation is one of the sections of a movement written in sonata form. The recapitulation occurs after the movement's development section, and typically presents once more the musical themes from the movement's exposition. This material is most often recapitulated in the tonic key of the movement, in such a way that it reaffirms that key as the movement's home key.

In some sonata form movements, the recapitulation presents a straightforward image of the movement's exposition. However, many sonata form movements, even early examples, depart from this simple procedure. Devices used by composers include incorporating a secondary development section, or varying the character of the original material, or rearranging its order, or adding new material, or omitting material altogether, or overlaying material that was kept separate in the exposition.

The composer of a sonata form movement may disguise the start of the recapitulation as an extension of the development section. Conversely, the composer may write a "false recapitulation", which gives the listener the idea that the recapitulation has begun, but proves on further listening to be an extension of the development section.

Recapitulation is a term first used by Carlos Castaneda in his book, The Eagle’s Gift, published in 1982. In The Eagle's Gift, Florinda, one of don Juan's party of warriors, teaches Castaneda about the process and purpose of recapitulation. She explained that recapitulation consisted of "recollecting one's life down to the most insignificant detail" and that when a woman's recapitulation was complete she "no longer abided by the limitations of her person." She further explained that in the process of recapitulation one recounts all the feelings they invested in whatever memory they were reviewing.

Florinda told Castaneda that recapitulation often began with a list of items to be recalled. One then proceeded to work through the list one item at a time staying with the item until all of the emotions around the event had been felt. The recapitulation was done with the breath. While recalling the event, one inhaled slowly, moved their head from the right shoulder to the left. The next breath moved from left to right and was an exhalation. The purpose of the breath was to restore energy. When breathing from right to left one would "pick up the filaments they left behind" and when breathing from left to right they would "eject filaments left in them by other luminous bodies involved in the event being recollected."

Following Castaneda's introduction of the term recapitulation, Víctor Sánchez, author of The Toltec Path of Recapitulation: Healing Your Past to Free Your Soul, published in 2001, also wrote about a technique by the same name. For Sanchez, recapitulation is a procedure of self-healing. It is done by reliving the events of one’s past. The damage is caused by repetitive emotional conflicts. When these conflicts persist they drain one’s vital energy. Sanchez says he developed and adapted techniques of recapitulation described in his book from procedures he learned from his time with the Wirrarika people, whom he calls the surviving Toltecs. This is distinct from Castaneda's use of the term Toltec referring to modern magic practitioners based on older Toltec beliefs.

Lujan Matus, author of The Art of Stalking Parallel Perception, regards the traditional method of recapitulation as being too rigid whereby it can actually hinder the practitioners' ability to establish a direct connection with spirit. He takes an alternative approach to the recapitulation technique which is less structured and more spontaneous in its application. In his most recent work, Whisperings of the Dragon, he outlines the Taoist perspective and offers recapitulation techniques that are similar to those that were originally revealed in the Tao Te Ching.

According to Kristopher Raphael, author of The Mastery of Awareness, Seeing Through the Eyes of a Jaguar, published in 2003, emotional charges blind one from perceiving reality as it truly is. Recapitulation is used to discharge one’s emotions so that they do not react and one can perceive clearly.