Looking into Space

Typically, I associate space with nothingness and as a static concept; I mean, it is just space after all. How much more can there be to our surroundings? Well, upon our class discussion on the concept of space, it got me thinking about how unnoticeably influential space really is. In chapter 5 of Interdisciplinarity, Moran states that “space [is] produced by a range of different agents and practices and requires the insights of other disciplines to understand and discuss it.” I found this to be important because space can have different meaning and influence depending on what lens you look at it through. Let’s consider the other idea of space, as in outer space. When you look at outer space with just one lens, your eyes, it can be rather boring; there are stars and the moon, but that’s pretty much it. When you compound the lens, you can see galaxies and planets among other things you couldn’t see before. Now let’s jump back to space as in surroundings and what Moran argues. Space, as in surroundings, is
a much more interesting topic when the insights of other disciplines are applied to it, or when you look at it through different lenses. When looking at it through a psychological-sociological sense, space can influence people’s actions, their behavior, their relation to power, how they feel and how they ultimately live their lives.  This also relates to Toomer’s Cane, specifically in the movement from south-north-south and the effect this has on the writing. In Arc one, specifically  “Cotton Song”, the tone of the poem is much more upbeat than that of Arc two’s “Harvest Song”; does the change of setting have anything to do with this? This change got me thinking about how the setting change  may affect Arc three and how Toomer uses the idea of space and surroundings in Cane.