In 1926: living at the edge of time - Monoskop

CENTER = PERIPHERY (INFINITUDE) 367
fear-to be exposed to them . . . In the middle of this condensation of
images, nobody looks for the quadrangle. Upon thorough reflection, one
would have to call its size moderate. But once the observers have taken
their seats, it begins to expand and becomes a quadrangle without mercy,
overwhelming the soft parts of the dreams" (Kracauer, 13). The association
of magic with a collapsing Euclidean space recurs. Mountainous
landscapes often inspire sexual desire, and sometimes are even expected
to enhance fertility. [see Mountaineering] Conversely, the mortal fear of
two shipwrecked sailors in the middle of the ocean transforms the seeming
Infinitude of the space around them into an almost cozy environment:
"The vast distances toward the horizon and the immensity of the
sea shrank when the mist closed in on us. The sea became smaller with
every passing minute, until we had the illusion that we were floating on
an inland lake. As time went on, even this lake narrowed more and more.
Now we felt as if we were drifting down a river. We had the sensation
we could touch the banks with our hands" (Traven, 212-213). Spaces
exert and react to supernatural influences-but no deity will ever represent
such forces. [see Immanence vs. Transcendence] Although soldiers
constantly get lost in the space of war, they always find a direction for
their movement: "We are the only ones who have penetrated to this
point, and it is true that what is going on here, despite the apparently
boundless confusion, is clearly oriented" (Junger, 130). Even after moments
of blinding confusion, this orientation comes back like an instinct
that is stronger than human calculation or rationality: "At first glance
everything looks strange and chaotic, like a dream landscape whose
details and improbabilities capture and dazzle the senses. For a moment,
we are paralyzed and try to understand what is going on. Then we wake
up-only to fall into confusion again amid this world of fire, whose
innumerable layers are strangely connected and which the will of the
blood can still penetrate as it pleases, with instinctive assurance" (136).
When the Periphery is no longer distinct from the Center, the peripheral
border region is no longer peripheral-and may become a dwelling
place. This transformation occurs on so many different levels that it
assumes the form of an emblematic experience. Suburbs are beginning
to appear in Argentinian literature as a central topic: "The outskirts, the
suburbs, are spaces that actually exist in the real topography of the city,
yet at the same time they can enter literature only when they are thought
of as cultural spaces, when they are given a form based not only on