Nations are
experienced as Bodies
Because nations are experienced in corporeal terms, they seek to secure their borders—orifices and entry points—from infiltration and penetration.
The experience of one’s nations with insecure or porous boundaries—is equivalent to the fear that one’s own body will be penetrated. |
Therefore, it’s necessary to “build a wall”—to protect the self from the alien Other that threatens to break into one’s body.
The anxiety is personal: one’s own body is projected into the body of the nation: generating hysteria or paranoia (actually, the same thing).
Hitler said that in order for his nation to pursue its foreign policy aims, Germany had to “protect its rear.” |