Like sparks: a sketch of the most vivid image of progress

Abstract

The assay aims to reflect upon the inherences of capitalism’s economic and technological progress in the contemporary society, considering, above all, the adverse side of this progress, its trails, and its sparks. Inspired by the writings of Walter Benjamin, I propose this interpretation from the allegorical image of the fire, which was awakened in me by visiting burnt down cane fields in Sao Paulo. Since those occurrences, other fragments have been brought to this essay to unveil possible layers of meaning to the fire and, thus, this progress. Categories such as history, memory, and memoricide intertwine the words presented here, aiming to illustrate how these fragments are rooted in the debris, which, dialectically, engage remembrance and forgetfulness. Similarly, they are rooted in the inherences of the progress, which, according to Benjamin, would drive humanity towards a catastrophe.