At Different Speeds: Cancel Culture and Temporality

For a long time, Lotman’s theory of culture was read in the light of eminently spatial criteria and metaphors: boundaries, inner and outer space, spheres… However, Lotman’s contribution in considering the temporal dynamics that characterise semiospheres is fundamental. The points of attention, in Lotman's view of temporality, are in my opinion two: on the one hand, temporal rhythms differentiate and characterise the life forms (some life forms, such as fashion, have a faster rhythm; other life forms, such as folklore, have a slower rhythm of change). But beyond this, the different rhythms come into conflict with each other, because each semiosphere simultaneously hosts more than one life form. The contemporary topic of cancel culture is studied under this light, as a matter of temporal conflict.