The dialectic of ruin

Abstract

This article focuses on the ambiguous aspects of 'ruin' in its different appearances - as visible material phenomenon and as concept or idea. The word 'ruin' implies the dialectic of passivity and action; the specific and universal, and the merging of past and future in the present. I apply the abstract and physical idea of ruin to the European political sphere of the past century. The meanings of 'ideology' and 'dialectic' are placed in perspective with the physical destruction of the Berlin wall. Within days after the event, chunks of wall were for sale in the USA: wrapped in velvet satchels and stacked under Christmas trees, this became part of the American Christmas shopping experience. The material and symbolic value and meanings attached to 'ruin' is explored in light of the Berlin Wall. In some ways the symbolic meaning of the ruined wall can serve as a metaphor for the ambiguity of our existence and its similarities to 'ruin'.

Die artikel fokus op die dubbelsinnige karakter van die ruïne: enersyds as 'n fisiese artefak en andersyds as 'n idee of 'n konsep. Die woord 'ruïne' impliseer die dialektiese verhouding van aktiwiteit en passiwiteit; van die spesifieke en die universele, asook die samevloei van verlede en toekoms in die teenwoordige. Die idee van die ruïne word hier weergelê in die lig van die Europese politieke geskiedenis van die afgelope eeu. Die val van die Berlynse muur dien hier as fisiese en simboliese verwysingspunt om die betekenis van 'dialektiek' en 'ideologie' in die konteks bloot te lê. Die verskillende betekenisse van die ruïne mag dalk as analoog dien om ons eie bestaan te interpreteer en beter te verstaan.