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2B-Model of the Borderland
The map as the route plan is based on coordinates and marks the meanings of which
are exhausted only by the indication of the goal; the map as a possession scheme concerns
only one aspect of the social, namely, properties, being limited to the indication of the
proprietor. The map as a space metaphor is based on the borders acting as configurators
of social space in all its aspects.
Topography expands the space of the traveler, the scheme of possession legitimizes
the belonging of the space, specifying its proprietor, and the border makes the configura-
tion of social space without dealing with the subject.
The map of the traveler is the map of the observer who crosses space and does not
stay in it for long. The map of the owner establishes him as the subject of social space and
represents the procedure of his recognition as such. Modern political maps, in essence, are
subjectless, i.e. they do not indicate the subject but the borders of imperious orders. Thus,
the map may provoke a situation in which the subject is replaced with its metaphor.
The third kind of maps, namely metaphors of social space, is studied by schoolboys
and it is the image of world perception by the majority of people living at present. When
we use statements: “Ukraine has decided”, “Belarus has accepted”, “Poland has partici-
pated”, we address such geographical metaphors. We have it clear in our mind that behind
the metaphor there is a subject defined by the political border. However, geographical
metaphors frequently become self-sufficient and consequently cease to represent a com-
plex social reality. The truth is that behind the metaphor of the map there is no subject at
all because the map is a metaphor of not the subject but space.
The Border and the Boundary
It is necessary to differentiate two notions if we want to overcome the designated
negative discourse. These concepts are “border” and “boundary”.
In the English language the notion “border” means, first of all, a really existing politi-
cal border specially created, equipped with a corresponding infrastructure to control, to
let through, to register, etc. The border can be crossed as it is material and is not an ac-
cessory of a certain subject. Border crossing does not lead to the change of the subject.
Simultaneously every public status can be viewed as a border. It is also specially designed
and is the expression of a social need of this or that social function. The status can be
changed without the change of the subject. So, for instance, the head of price depart-
ment when leaving his office after work crosses the border of his status becoming simply
Alexander Borisovich. The visitor of the department who needs to discuss some private
affairs should cross the border of the status of Alexander Borisovich so that Alexander
Borisovich as the department head could solve the visitor’s problem. The border organizes
a special kind of space. It represents a set of public statuses configured within the limits of
the border. In our work we call this kind of space the border-space. For this space to ob-
tain its social value, border situations should arise continually. These situations are formed