There is also another kind of metacircularity that does not bind meaning with letters but with the enunciation context.
Two examples coming from underground 90s hip hop:
- Smoked Out Productions, Bok Bok: "Where my niggas at ? In the range of my voice". This is very faint, but it's here.
- More convincingingly, Alps Cru, Words From My Thoughts: "As my thoughts are merged, these are those words."
- Here is a poemnigma I wrote to a friend:
______Qui suis je ?______
M E V O I C I S U L T A N
N U I T I S M E V O C A L
S I L I C E M O U V A N T
I O V E N T M U S I C A L
L E V O I C I M U S A N T
M O T I N C L U S A V I E
C E M O T I V A L I N S U
L A V O U S E M I N C I T
C U L T I V O N S A M I E
S I I L V A U T C E N O M
S O N V A L M U E T I C I
Indice:
S I N U L V I C E A M O T
V U I C I S L A M E T O N
N O M C E S T V I A L U I
V A I N C U T E L O M I S
Translation:
___Who am I ? ____
Here I am Sultan !
Vocal nightism
Moving silica
Io, musical wind !
Here it is drifting
This lifetime word
This hidden motive
Here it slices you thin
Let's cultivate my friend
If it equates this name
Its silent vale here
____Hint____
If no word-vice
As seen here slams your
Name it's through it
Vanquished like this, omitted
Explanation:
All the lines are built up using the same set of letters, and every line either hints at the encryption mechanism (anagrams) or at the nature of the key (a person's name). I can't wrap my head around the "cryptographic setting" here but it looks like it's a two levels system where both the encrypted and clear forms of the message have a meaning. The encrypted form meaning relies on common sense, patience and a certain sense of observation to convey to Bob both what's the encryption algorithm (anagrams) and what kind of key it uses (a person's name), like any public algo. However, the key appears to be ... the message's true target !
Of course it's not cryptography strictly speaking, and I'm not even sure it's conveying any meaning. At most I can cause Alice to raise her hand among the crowd of message readers, but that's all. It's like cryptography, but it works at another level: it's not about concealing the meaning of the message, but concealing its enunciation context. This is about catching someone's attention by broadcasting a message among a crowd without them knowing who is targeted and without prior coordination with the target.
Two examples coming from underground 90s hip hop:
- Smoked Out Productions, Bok Bok: "Where my niggas at ? In the range of my voice". This is very faint, but it's here.
- More convincingingly, Alps Cru, Words From My Thoughts: "As my thoughts are merged, these are those words."
- Here is a poemnigma I wrote to a friend:
______Qui suis je ?______
M E V O I C I S U L T A N
N U I T I S M E V O C A L
S I L I C E M O U V A N T
I O V E N T M U S I C A L
L E V O I C I M U S A N T
M O T I N C L U S A V I E
C E M O T I V A L I N S U
L A V O U S E M I N C I T
C U L T I V O N S A M I E
S I I L V A U T C E N O M
S O N V A L M U E T I C I
Indice:
S I N U L V I C E A M O T
V U I C I S L A M E T O N
N O M C E S T V I A L U I
V A I N C U T E L O M I S
Translation:
___Who am I ? ____
Here I am Sultan !
Vocal nightism
Moving silica
Io, musical wind !
Here it is drifting
This lifetime word
This hidden motive
Here it slices you thin
Let's cultivate my friend
If it equates this name
Its silent vale here
____Hint____
If no word-vice
As seen here slams your
Name it's through it
Vanquished like this, omitted
Explanation:
All the lines are built up using the same set of letters, and every line either hints at the encryption mechanism (anagrams) or at the nature of the key (a person's name). I can't wrap my head around the "cryptographic setting" here but it looks like it's a two levels system where both the encrypted and clear forms of the message have a meaning. The encrypted form meaning relies on common sense, patience and a certain sense of observation to convey to Bob both what's the encryption algorithm (anagrams) and what kind of key it uses (a person's name), like any public algo. However, the key appears to be ... the message's true target !
Of course it's not cryptography strictly speaking, and I'm not even sure it's conveying any meaning. At most I can cause Alice to raise her hand among the crowd of message readers, but that's all. It's like cryptography, but it works at another level: it's not about concealing the meaning of the message, but concealing its enunciation context. This is about catching someone's attention by broadcasting a message among a crowd without them knowing who is targeted and without prior coordination with the target.