In 1926: living at the edge of time - Monoskop

CENTER VS. PERIPHERY
Hardly anybody ever discusses what is generally acknowledged to be the
Center of the world map. Whoever speaks or writes about the world as
a spatial object refers explicitly-and almost exclusively-to the Periphery.
It is as if only the various continents and countries of the Periphery
represented specific concepts and qualities. [see Authenticity vs. Artificiality]
Perhaps this contrast between Periphery and Center results
simply from the impression that all possible phenomena, opinions, and
perspectives are constantly present at the Center, whereas the various
spaces on the Periphery are-at least temporarily-deprived of some
among them. Wherever it may come from, the contrast between the
unmentioned Center and the much-discussed Periphery is a stable assumption,
stable enough indeed to stand for the geographic distance
between the two zones. It constitutes a two-dimensional mapping-a
mapping without perspectival illusions, deceptions, or ambiguities.
The western Periphery and the eastern Periphery of this map are
occupied, respectively, by the United States and the Soviet Union. For
obviously different reasons, both Soviet society and American society are
usually seen as representing the future-a view that makes them a threat
to some people and a hope to others. The desire to look into the future
must be the reason so many reporters, intellectuals, and poets find it
exciting and important to visit and write about these two countries.
Whatever the United States may embody as a potential future, it is
overwhelmingly loud, aggressive, and surface-oriented. This is the future
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