Naslov
The Projection of an Ending and Systems Theory – a Sociological Reading of Apocalypse as a Genre

Autori
Dremel, Anita

Izvornik
Skepsi (1758-2679) 6 (2014); 40-65

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Radovi u časopisima, članak, znanstveni

Ključne riječi
apocalypse; Luhmann; systems theory

Sažetak
The narratives of the end, particularly the Bible-inspired ones containing apocalyptic imagery, have been studied for centuries. Sociological treatment of this subject has been primarily focussed on apocalyptic communities and millenarian movements, or their social setting (Sitz im Leben). The treatment of apocalypse in this article differs in that it is a sociological contribution which focuses on the aspect of genre in its systemic effects from the standpoint of Niklas Luhmann’s systems theory. The main interest is to point to the structural issues springing from the idea of imminent ending and its social potential. The author’s thesis is that fictions about the purpose and the flow of history from the beginning to the end satisfy, among other potential social functions, our systemic social needs. Various historical imaginings and projections of the world out of existence, despite their different content or politics of representation, seem to share a common systemic logic concerning operational closure and structural openness. Even though the system always seemingly tries to offer solutions to a variety of crises, the real systemic autopoietic interest is to ensure the mechanism that will continue generating new problems, new crises that it can try to solve – that way enabling us to imagine our significance in the space between our present existence and our always imminent nonexistence. The projection of an ending is an inherent feature functionally operative in systemic auto-reproduction. The extraordinary historical resilience of the belief that the end is coming despite historical disconfirmations (practised by various transformations of the belief or by deferrals of the end) springs from the recurring systemic need for adjustments in the interest of ‘reality’ and the control thereof. Thus, by looking into the narratives of the end, the article aims to investigate the systemic logic behind the sensemaking process, without losing the materiality of sociological ideas from sight or implying the map of the experience of the Other.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

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