Antonin Potoski's Vertiges de la répétition explores repetition and difference

In his new book, Antonin Potoski examines the experience of repetition and difference through travel and synesthesia. He describes living near a river that erodes the bank, a fragile refuge at risk of flooding or landslide. Potoski finds paradoxical pleasure in precariousness, traveling incessantly to experience difference and self-knowledge through alterity. In his previous book, Cités en abîme, he connected distant cultures like Mali and Japan. Now, he focuses on the border between Bangladesh and Myanmar, a nearly impassable frontier requiring transit via Oman, the Land of Myrrh, 4,000 kilometers away. Potoski's associative capacity is linked to his synesthesia, which blends vision and hearing or temporal and spatial paths, like listening to a vinyl record's A and B sides. He recounts seeing a white wading bird fly repeatedly at night in Muscat, an experience shared with a friend who also has synesthesia. Repetition creates a loop-like sensation, as in a speedboat trip to lit LNG carriers or a friend crossing the river without papers. Potoski explores incompatible worlds, desiring difference without declaration, and uses his dissociative ability to detect manipulated videos that incite interreligious conflict. The book weaves geography, memory, and desire into a polyphonic narrative.