Catastrophe etymologically means curvature, not annihilation

Evidence

But one must realize that “catastrophe” has this “catastrophic” meaning of end and annihilation only in relation to a linear vision of accumulation, of productive finality, imposed on us by the system. Etymologically, the term itself only signifies the curvature, the winding down to the bottom of a cycle that leads to what one could call the “horizon of the event,” to an impassable horizon of meaning: beyond that nothing takes place that has meaning for us - but it suffices to get out of this ultimatum of meaning in order for the catastrophe itself to no longer seem like a final and nihilistic day of reckoning, such as it functions in our contemporary imaginary. — Jean Baudrillard, Simulacra and Simulation, 285

Categorization

• DEFINE: Etymological redefinition of catastrophe as curvature/winding-down, opposing it to linear accumulation.
• SEED: Essay angle: the etymology of ‘catastrophe’ as curvature rather than end-point, applied to narrative and media theory.
• XREF: connects to: Judgment etymologically means original division within unity — Catherine Malabou, The Future of Hegel: Plasticity,…, 1318; Apocalypse is contemporary when the catastrophe is felt as already underway rather than imminent — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk: The Collected and Unpublished…, 556

Broader Connections

• Judgment etymologically means original division within unity #corroborates (0.72) — Catherine Malabou, The Future of Hegel, 1318