Cassirer’s Dynamic Forms: Towards Analyzing Transformations in Maritsa Iztok
Cassirer’s Dynamic Forms: Towards Analyzing Transformations in Maritsa Iztok

Summary/Abstract: This article examines and tests the analytical potential of dynamic forms, considered through the distinction between forma formata and forma formans in the work of Ernst Cassirer. This conceptual pair is applied to the problem of ongoing transformations in the Maritsa Iztok (Maritsa East) coal-mining region in Bulgaria (2024 – 2026). The analysis focuses on the tension between the “carbon past” as a stagnant form (forma formata) and the innovative impulse as a will to form (forma formans) in the course of these transformations. Examples are identified both of the functioning of forma formata in established practices and of breakthroughs of forma formans (the will to form) through civic initiatives (such as air-quality monitoring) and through the introduction of visionary educational strategies (including AI technologies).

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