Instantiation

"Instantiation, essentially, is a generic term for the phenomenon of realization in time. Other terms are associated with the concept, but with more problematic overtones in their definitions. For instance, “version” is a term often used. Version implies deliberation in the creation of the phenomenon and also alteration. Another term used is “manifestation,” which implies physicality (manus being the Latin root for “hand”). Instantiation is a simpler term, used to signal a place in a sequence in time, but without these other implications of intellectual or physical detail. The term frees us to describe sets of multiply realized phenomena at an abstract level.

    Bibliographically, “instantiation,” is the phenomenon addressed within the realm of bibliographic relationships by research into bibliographic ‘works,’ and more recently ‘content genealogy’ of artifactual representations. Specifically, an instantiation of a work exists whenever the work is realized in time (such as a performance or a reading), or when it is manifest in physical form (in a book, for example)." (Smiraglia, 2005).

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