Editorial

Origin: Static Issue 07

Before the end of the eighteenth century, ‘catastrophe’ had a specifically literary or rhetorical meaning, derived from ancient theories of dramatic plot. It was merely that part of a tragedy which brought the action to its conclusion. The contemporary understanding of the word is more ambiguous, however, and more paradoxical. While a catastrophe might constitute the end of one action, it may also signal the beginning of others. The Lisbon Earthquake of 1755 both destroyed countless artefacts and became a major reference point for eighteenth century art and philosophy, inspiring both Voltaire and Kant. Lisbon, Hiroshima, Dresden ­– the near-destruction of an entire city can become an indestructible part of that city’s history. Catastrophes constitute both the terrain on which cultural narratives are built and the point at which they implode and disappear.

The Catastrophe issue of Static, inspired by the London Consortium course of the same name, attempts a necessarily partial and fragmented account of this germinative paradox, through literature, the visual arts, politics, music, mathematics and philosophy. The catastrophe that calls the reader’s attention to these pages remains elusive and is more difficult to recount than the stories that continue to fill our daily press. It is peripheral and fundamental, coming round as it passes away, long ago still present and yet to come.

The diversity and depth of the discussion that follows maps this catastrophic terrain with all the scrutiny, ambiguity and aporia needed to pay this concept the respect it is due.

'There's our catastrophe. In the bag'
Samuel Beckett
Collected Shorter Plays of Samuel Beckett
(London: Faber and Faber, 1984), p 300.

Roger Orwell, Chrystalleni Loizidou
and Jonathan McKay