Volcanic theory

Abstract

For those of us who live in Puebla, Popocatépetl is a constant point of reference, visually and theoretically. The volcano is beautiful, not only in what can be seen—the snowy summit, the smoke rising from the snow—but in what cannot be seen: its repressed but rebellious heart. What attracts us is the contrast between cold and hot, snow outside and furnace inside, calm passivity outside and frantic activity within, apparent predictability outside and total unpredictability within. Above all, the volcano is a constant witness to the force of the repressed.