The succinct definition of a graphosphere as a “space of visible words” risks appearing somewhat static. All visible words are by definition constituents of a graphosphere, but not all analyses of such words automatically reflect a “graphospheric approach” to their study. A graphospheric approach implies an interest not just in words that happen to be parts of spaces (as all visible words must be), but also in the dynamics of relations between the two, both synchronically and diachronically. In the context of the present discussion of bureaucratic graphospheres, this essay explores the relational dynamics in the micro-context of words and spaces on a page: specifically, with reference to the emergence, in Russian imperial administration, of that quintessentially bureaucratic instrument, the printed blank form.
