Apocalyptic dimensions

seeing the beginning from the end

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.60056/CCL.2023..89-100

Keywords:

apocalypse, catastrophic imaginary, non-places, visual art, creative destruction

Abstract

In analysing apocalyptic discourse, it is essential to distinguish the spatial and temporal dimensions in which a catastrophe exerts influence, paves the way for the development of a particular way of thinking, and accordingly builds an appropriate and distinct worldview. My goal is to explore some of the consequences of putting discourse into action to affect political or social change. It is important to understand how certain beliefs and conventions are constructed through the use of catastrophic language, symbolism, and imagery. To this end, I will examine how apocalyptic discourse shapes the way people see the world around them, using as examples works by Mario Sironi, Ludwig Meidner, and Stanley Donwood, while comparing them to the Benjaminean notion of “destructive character”, emphasising how the visual discourse structures space and time to unveil novel aspects of reality.

Author Biography

  • Nataliya Atanasova, Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski"

    Nataliya Atanasova is a PhD student in Philosophy at the University of Sofia “St. Kliment Ohridski”. She has completed her Bachelor's degree in Theory of Art at the University of Padova in Italy and her Master's degree in Visual Culture at the University of Westminster in London. Her research interests focus on the intersection of philosophy, visual culture, and technology, with a particular emphasis on contemporary and digital art. Nataliya is interested in exploring radical perspectives within these fields, which offer new and innovative insights into the relationship between art, technology, and society. Her PhD thesis is titled Catastrophic Imaginaries and Revolutionary Aesthetics: The Situationists’ Aftermath in Contemporary Political Art, which delves into this topic.

References

Augè, M. (1995). Non-places: Introduction to an anthropology of supermodernity. Verso Books.

Benjamin, W. (2011). The Destructive Character. In D. Raaijmakers (Ed.), The destructive character. Onomatopee.

Bliss, S. (2013). A brief commentary on The Apocalypse. (J. V. Himes, Ed.). Amazon Kindle Publishing.

Braun, E. (1998). Mario Sironi's Urban Landscapes: The Futurist/Fascist Nexus. In M. Affron & M. Antliff (Eds.), Fascist visions: Art and ideology in France and Italy (pp. 101–134). Princeton University Press.

Cartwright, L., & Sturken, M. (2009). Spectatorship, Power, and Knowledge. In Practice of looking: An introduction to visual culture. OUP USA.

Clark, T. J. (2003). Farewell to an Idea. In J. Geger & P. Wood (Eds.), Art of the twentieth century: A reader (pp. 38–52). Yale University Press.

Derrida, J. (1984a). Of an Apocalyptic Tone Recently Adopted in Philosophy. Oxford Literary Review, 6(2), 3–37.

Derrida, J. (1984b). No Apocalypse, Not Now. Diacritics, (14), 20–31.

deSilva, D. (2009). Seeing things John's way: The rhetoric of the Book of Revelation. John Knox Press.

Fisher, M. (2009). Capitalist realism: Is there no alternative. Zero Books.

Fukuyama, F. (1989). The End of History? The National Interest, (16), 3–18.

Herms, R. (2006). An apocalypse for the church and for the world: The narrative function of universal language in the Book of Revelation. De Gruyter.

James, P., & Steger, M. (2013). Levels of Subjective Globalization: Ideologies, Imaginaries, Ontologies. Perspectives on Global Development and Technology, 12(12), 17–40.

Maier, H. O. (2002). Apocalypse recalled: The Book of Revelation after Christendom. Fortress Press.

Marinetti, F. T. (2003). The Fututrist Manifesto. In C. Harrison & P. Wood (Eds.), Art in theory 1900 – 2000: An anthology of changing ideas (pp. 146–150). Blackwell Publishing.

Marx, K., & Engels, F. (2008). The Book of Revelation. In On religion (pp. 205–213). Dover Publications.

O’Leary, S. (2012). Arguing the Apocalypse: A theory of millennial rhetoric. Oxford University Press.

Plotke, D. (2006). Democratic Polities and Anti-democratic Politics. Theoria, 53(111), 6–44.

Raaijmakers, D. (2011). The destructive character. Onomatopee 54.

Rosa, H. (2013). Social acceleration. Columbia University Press.

Sironi, M. (2003). Manifesto of Mural Painting. In C. Harrison & P. Wood (Eds.), Art in theory 1900 – 2000: An anthology of changing ideas (pp. 424–426). Blackwell Publishing.

Williams, A., & Srnicek, N. (2013). Accelerate Manifesto for an Accelerationist Politics. Utopian Studies, (24), 216–231.

Downloads

Published

2025-11-06

Issue

Vol. 9 (2023)

Section

II. Miscellanea

License

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

This license enables reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator. CC BY-NC includes the following elements:

 BY: credit must be given to the creator.
NC: Only noncommercial uses of the work are permitted.

How to Cite

Apocalyptic dimensions: seeing the beginning from the end. (2025). Colloquia Comparativa Litterarum, 9, 89-100. https://doi.org/10.60056/CCL.2023..89-100