Figure and Field in the Anthropocene

Abstract

The following thoughts will inevitably find themselves in the service of a central idea: the creation of a discursive common ground – that is, the production of a set of assumptions, beliefs and common terms that find acceptance and use, and which form the basis for conversation and dialogue. So, in the simple act of gathering a group of essays under the title “Making Ground”, we have created a discursive commons that allows discrete and unique thoughts and ideas to find expression. This notion – the creation of a discursive commons – is the guiding theme of this essay, where it begins and where it will end. It is also very important to note that (although I do not think it is the case in this instance) a discursive commons can be created through evasion as much as through attraction: by advancing or proposing a theme that is somehow repellant to an existing field of discourse, a new common ground can be created. Therefore, the overt rejection of a discursive commons, or the rejection of a conceptual assertion, in many ways serves the same purpose as its acceptance.