Imagining Cycles
March 12, 2008
As Americans we have one national narrative. There are lots of subplots, but since we became a nation in the 18th century our capital city has accumulated the signs of nationhood in the form of structures and statues. From this standpoint it is difficult for us to imagine a capital like Cairo that contained the layers of quite different dynasties. We miss the careful physical negotiations a new dynasty must engage in if it is to distinguish itself from the past.
More than you might guess, I find myself asking my students to imagine that at some point in the future our nation is taken over by a foreign power. I try to sketch an image of Canada as a future power that could take over the US. In that case the Canadians would be faced with some choices about what to do with Washington DC.
Think about it: If you were the invading Canadian power would you take over the capitol building or raze it and build something new? Your answer to that question will probably depend on what kind of government you imagine yourself as being. If you fashion yourself as a restorer of democracy (in the distant future) you will likely feel comfortable with the capitol and make use of it. If you think of yourself as a neo-communist power, then you will probably want to raze the capitol completely to make way for a new symbolic building. Which is to point out what is perhaps obvious: this real estate has an immense symbolic value that would be either appropriated or destroyed.. or perhaps a combination of those two options. But any new power would deal with the capitol.
If we thought hard enough about this, we could probably come up with a taxonomy of possible responses to the capitol. A military coup d'etat would want to keep alive the illusion of continuity. An ideologically opposed conquering power would seek to transform the landscape into a reflection of their own power structure. A completely alien power (from another planet?) would mindlessly destroy and do their own thing.. being ignorant of the symbolic values of our culture (like we were of the world of the Native Americans).
This sounds like science fiction when applied to America (surely we are an eternal nation!), but the landscape of Cairo exhibits each of these typical responses.. as dynasty succeeds dynasty and ideologies battle each other. The landscape is always demanding an interpretation and each dynasty sets out to spin it in its own way. Even if a capitol-like structure is destroyed, its place is filled with something new and symbolic. I would love to see more attention paid to the generic qualities of these cultural choices. I mean, why not give some names to the degree of acceptance or rejection one culture makes toward another culture.. thereby allowing us to speak about the actions of an ancient Chinese dynasty, a medieval Egyptian one, and a future Canadian empire with some common technical terms for cultural reception.
