Page 151 - Communication Processes Volume 3 Communication Culture and Confrontation

126 Guy Poitevin

The latter are no mere incidental attributes. They substantially define
the respective sphere of life and influence of each of the partners, that
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is, the world they belong to. The jump of Hanuman up to the sun god
presupposes and measures the qualitative discrimination that opposes
one party to the other as the top/higher/superior to the bottom/lower/
inferior along a vertical line. In this regard, the fight forthwith opposes
unequals and starts at the initiative of the inferior or lower party.
The reason and motivation of the conflict are not stated. Henceforth,
the nature of the contest has to be deductively inferred. In this regard,
one essential attribute of the initial aggressive move, its primeval di-
mension, should be pointed out. The conflict seems to have no other
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reason but itself. As soon as Vayu has a son—accomplishment of his
will or extension of himself—what he generates is an act of aggression.
The conflict might be construed as the expression of the father’s will
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to power. The jump of son Hanuman, at the very moment of his
procreation, may be considered as responding to an innermost will to
power of his genitor. The latter’s immediate retaliatory move as soon
as the son falls on earth—where he should belong—is revenge born
out of frustration.
The gods, the ‘celestials’, do not give any reason either to im-
mediately strike down the assailant. They simply do not bear any
infringement on their territory. The most significant opposition here
is an absolutely discriminative distinction between earth and heaven
as spheres of existence and influence, fields of domination or natural
horizons of control. This elementary distinction is taken for granted
and never stated. The gods’ exclusive dominance in heaven finds its
expression in a pure denial to a ‘terrestrial’ to enter their territory.
Maintenance of distance and spatial discrimination is for the celestials
the first way of asserting their power.
Moreover, separation is to be maintained not as mere horizontal
seclusion, but as a vertical discrimination. The gods’ supremacy is
built up upon a schema of absolute vertical spatial segregation. This
dynamics is represented in Figure 4.1.
The import of this claim to power by spatial segregation is signifi-
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cantly corroborated by the impotence of gods on earth. Since Vayu can
immediately put an end to any breath of life on earth, the gods are ter-
ribly frightened for the simple reason that they cannot, on their own
and on the spot, reverse this situation. They ought to come down and
diplomatically negotiate with their opponents. On earth, gods prove to