The Lost Empires

2024

Summary

During the contemporary era, we speculatively find ourselves in a situation where the importance of maps has transcended that of the actual geographical terrain they represent. Other archives function as pivotal tools that not only delineate and manage society but also chronicle its evolution.

Throughout history, empires have relied on records, archives, and maps to assert their dominance, wealth, memories and authority over their subjects. Revolutions often involve the deliberate destruction of existing records. As empires crumble and new regimes ascend, fresh narratives and histories emerge. If capitalism were to collapse, the existing archives might gradually fade away, supplanted by new memories and narratives that reflect the transformed societal landscape.

From Jorge Luis Borges's 'On Exactitude in Science’ (1) via Jacque Derrida’s ‘Spectres of Marx’ (2), Mark Fisher's ‘Capitalist Realism’ (3) Alfred Korzybski’s map and territory dictum (4), society has arrived in Retromania (5) - a nostalgic place which has speculatively enabled populism, new nationalism and Brexit to thrive. The contemporary myth prevails in that looking back is going forward. The place where we are is a place where nostalgia and the past are resold as comforting capitalist commodities.

References

1. Borges, J.L. and Hurley, A. (1999) Collected fiction. New York: Penguin Books.

2. Derrida, J. (2011) Specters of Marx: The State of the debt, the work of mourning, and the New International. Translated by P. Kamuf. New York, NY: Routledge.

3. Fisher, M. (2022) Capitalist realism: Is there no alternative? Alresford, Hampshire, UK: Zero Books.

4. Korzybski, A .(1933). Science and Sanity: An Introduction to Non-Aristotelian Systems and General Semantics. International Non-Aristotelian Library Publishing Company.

5. Reynolds, S. (2012) Retromania: Pop Culture’s addiction to its own past. London: Faber and Faber.