TIME IN SPATIAL METALANGUAGE: THE AMBIGUOUS POSITION OF TIME IN CONCEPTS OF SOCIOCULTURAL, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL SPACE
TIME IN SPATIAL METALANGUAGE: THE AMBIGUOUS POSITION OF TIME IN CONCEPTS OF SOCIOCULTURAL, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL SPACE

Summary/Abstract: In this paper I discuss the problematic presence of time in the spatial metalanguage of cultural and social research. General use of everyday spatial metaphors, as well as attempts to formalise spatial models, explicate the role of space as a modelling system. At the same time, the aspect of temporality is positioned into an ambiguous role as being partly subordinated and rejected from these descriptive models with universalistic intentions. The problematic presence of time and temporality in the spatial metalanguage of cultural and social research is here discussed in the context of three theoretical models of space: Pitirim A. Sorokin’s sociocultural space, Pierre Bourdieu’s social space, and Juri Lotman’s cultural space. Relating to the history of theory through these three models, the discussion suggests a critical account on the ways temporality is presented in the spatial metalanguage. Nevertheless, in combination, these models suggest a possibility to involve multiple socioculturally specific accounts on time into coherent spatial models through the recognition of reflective activity of agents.

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