The idea of distance , which comes from the Italian language, is used in the field of art to refer to the terms of a painting that are far from the main plane . The concept refers to the limits of the background of a work.
By extension, the term is used with reference to things that are difficult to distinguish or notice since they are located very far away . This is how the adverbial phrase “en lontananza” arose, used as a synonym for “in the distance.”
For example: “The sun was seen in the distance, like a bright point lost on the horizon” , “When we reached the top of the mountain, we could see the city in the distance” , “With his gaze lost in the distance, the man drank for hours.”
It is common for the notion to be used with respect to sight . A building in the distance, to mention one possibility, is a construction that can be seen from a great distance.
The word, in any case, can appear associated with other meanings : "I heard a scream in the distance and I assumed that someone was in trouble" , "The drums in the distance showed that, in the tribe, the ritual was underway" , “The noise of an aircraft in the distance surprised the child.”
Lontananza also has a symbolic meaning : “According to some political analysts, the president's intentions to run for a new mandate can be glimpsed in the distance despite the country's economic and social problems,” “A desire to change is glimpsed in the distance.” reality…” , “The coach perceived in the distance a certain boredom among his players and made the decision to step aside.”
One of the most obvious peculiarities of this word is that it is not used in everyday speech, but is reserved almost exclusively for the literary field and the highest journalism. Its different meanings can be expressed through some of its synonyms, such as remoteness, remoteness or distance , in addition to the expressions that serve to replace distantness , such as being in the distance .
As mentioned above, the idea of distance refers to a considerable distance between the object that you want to point out and another that is also of great importance for the message, or between two subjects that for various reasons are separated at the moment. of the conversation. The nuances in each case can be different, and express various degrees of subjectivity , presenting distance as a concept with certain positive or negative connotations, beyond the issues of a mathematical measurement.
Let's begin by analyzing the first example in this article: it talks about the sun in the distance, a description that could be unnecessary if the sentence did not have a literary nature, since we know that this star is at a great distance from our planet without exceptions. However, pointing out the distance in this case can serve to remember that despite being far away, it did not stop shining; This idea causes an effect that nullifies the importance of distance, so to speak.
The following example mentions a city in the distance; In this case there may be no subjective connotations, although since it is the vision of someone who has climbed a mountain it can also denote the feeling of achievement or victory at the height , the fact of having left the past behind or the starting point. Then we talk about "the gaze lost in the distance", an expression that does not objectively describe the focus of the subject's eyes, but rather alludes to the fact that he was not paying attention to his surroundings, as if he were looking beyond the walls, things that were not obvious to others.