COMS 320

Question 1

According to Victoria Addona, what are phantom islands?

Answer 1

• Landmasses that were once believed to exist and appeared on maps, but were later found not to exist and to have been mistakenly identified
• Result of navigational errors, myths and superstitions, local legends
• Called phantom islands because of the absence of material evidence that they existed
• Many remained on maps for centuries until explorers or improved mapping technology disproved their presence

Question 2

What is the significance of phantom islands? (Addona)

Answer 2

• They illustrate the limits of early exploration and cartography
• They challenged the widespread tendency to view cartography as an abstract, objective and fixed reality
• Emphasizing the power of storytelling to shape a history of place

Question 3

What is an example of a phantom island? (Addona)

Answer 3

The Isle of Demons
- appeared on European world maps in the 16th century near the coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador
- named for the evil spirits said to occupy its shores
- viewed by cartographers and explorers as a threat to colonial harmony, it was said that demons assaulted ships that came near the island

Question 4

What does terra incognita mean and what is its significance according to Addona?

Answer 4

Unknown lands
- emblematized both the limitations of geographical knowledge and the promise of future expansion
- monsters and creatures such as griffins and mermaids were often depicted as occupying the edges of the known world (ie land discovered by Europeans)

Question 5

What are Addona’s 3 main arguments on cartography?

Answer 5

1. Cartography was an ideological tool of domination and inequality, used by European explorers and colonizers to project their ownership of land, resources, and people
2. Cartography drew artificial boundaries to transform geographical spaces into governed territories
3. Some cartographers reduced the size of undiscovered areas on maps to downplay how much of the world remained beyond European knowledge

Question 6

What are 3 troubles of early modern European explorers (Addona)

Answer 6

1. How to bridge traditional conceptions of the world with new discoveries
2. How to align impressions of thriving Indigenous civilizations with Western notions of cultural dominance
3. How to contend with the representations of an incomplete world picture

Question 7

According to lecture, what are maps and their significance?

Answer 7

• Medium and technology of communication, form of media that legitimized arbitrary boundaries
• It is estimated that more lands have been lost to native people from mapping than through violent conflict

Question 8

What are 2 important maps mentioned in lecture?

Answer 8

1. Mercator’s World Map
   - The first circulated version of a map, emerged in the 16th century
   - One of the most famous and widely used maps in history, especially for navigation
   - Critiqued because it exaggerated the size of land masses
2. The Gall-Peters Projection
   - Map popularized by cartographer Arno Peters in the 1970s
   - Based on James Galls 19th century equal-area projection, that aimed to accurately represent the relative sizes of landmasses on Earth

Question 9

According to lecture, what is counter mapping and participatory mapping?

Answer 9

Counter mapping:
- Creating alternative maps and representations of space to challenge dominant narratives and power structures
- Emphasizes the importance of local knowledge, using pre-cartographic techniques such as oral histories and experiential knowledge

Participatory mapping:
- Collaborative approach to creating maps where local communities actively engage in the mapping process with dominant institutions
- Empowers locals to contribute their knowledge, perspectives, and priorities
- Important for conserving Indigenous knowledge of land, resources, and cultural spaces

Question 10

What are the main arguments of Thomas Bassett?

Answer 10

• Maps served as both instruments and representations of expanding European influence into Africa during the 19th century
• Maps contributed to empire-building by legitimating the projection of European power
• Through the use of cartographical elements such as color, boundary lines, and blank spaces, mapmakers participated in the conquest and colonization of Africa

Question 11

What is the Berlin Conference and why was it significant according to Bassett?

Answer 11

1884-5
- Conference where European diplomats drew the boundaries of their possessions and spheres of influence in Africa
- Marked the end of informal imperialism, Doctrine of Effective Occupation
- The cartographic partition of Africa was inextricably linked to the exercise of power and the political discourse of African colonization

Question 12

Why were topographers important to mapmaking according to Bassett?

Answer 12

• They furthered imperial expansion by providing detailed information on the location of villages, roads, and natural resources
• The maps they created helped facilitate troop movements, settlement, and commercial activities
• They gathered information on local populations and the military capabilities of local villages

Question 13

Who was Richard Regnauld de Lannoy de Bissy? (Bassett)

Answer 13

• French military officer and cartographer, known for his important contributions to geographic knowledge of Africa during the 19th century
• Created a 63-sheet map of Africa in 1889, which was presented at the Paris Exposition Universelle
• His work was regarded as a major achievement for European colonial expansion, valued for its precision as it included information on roads, waterways, and key exploratory routes
• Promoted the civilizing mission through his work

Question 14

What is the significance of blank spaces on maps according to Bassett?

Answer 14

• Blank spaces: large areas on European maps in which little was ostensibly known
• Cartographic element pioneered by Jean D’Anville, whose maps of Africa were famous for their extensive blank spaces
• Emerged in an effort to establish scientific accuracy in cartography: the principle that only variable facts should be depicted on maps
• Use of blank spaces also resulted from disregard of Indigenous geographical knowledge. Often times blank spaces were on maps because European cartographers were unwilling to accept Indigenous sources, believing that European explorers were the only reliable informants
• Map readers interpreted blank spaces as areas open for colonization

Question 15

What is the significance of color and boundary lines on maps according to Bassett?

Answer 15

• Both these elements furthered the aims of empire builders by claiming lands not yet effectively controlled by Europeans

Example: l’Afrique Francaise
- Map published by Georges Rolland in 1890
- Depicted French territory in areas that France did not effectively control, labelled in dark colours
- Implied in light colours that neighbouring territories would inevitably become part of the French empire

Question 16

What contributed to maps’ authority during European conquest? (Bassett)

Answer 16

• Images of rising suns and paternalistic figures on maps, as a means to justify the appropriation of territory
• New order and authority symbolized by the reorganization of African space on maps

Question 17

What are the main arguments of Yakin Kinger?

Answer 17

• Colonial politics of commemoration in British India served to erase Indian people’s history and sovereignty
• The British colonial administration used memorials to maintain symbolic control and assert dominance
• British memorials in places like Lucknow and Kanpur were more than just sites of remembrance: they functioned as tools of imperial control by selectively preserving colonial narratives of sacrifice and loss, which erased local histories and resistance efforts
• Memorial spaces were inaccessible to locals

Question 18

What is the Indian Rebellion of 1857? (Kinger)

Answer 18

• First War of Indian Independence, revolt against British colonial rule
• Two main sites of insurgency: Kanpur and Lucknow

Question 19

Describe the Kanpur uprising based on the Kinger reading

Answer 19

• Triggered by the capture of the British garrison in Kanpur and the massacre of British women and children in Bibighar
• Event that became pivotal in shaping British perceptions and responses to the rebellion
• A memorial was constructed at the Bibighar site, with the angel of resurrection as its centerpiece to symbolize and commemorate imperial loss
• The expenses of building the memorial largely came from a fine levied on the Indian citizens of Kanpur, who were restricted from entering the compound

Question 20

Describe the Lucknow uprising based on the Kinger reading

Answer 20

• Triggered by the killings of British officers and residents of Lucknow by sepoys (Indian soldiers serving the British Empire)
• Rebellion fuelled by widespread discontent towards colonial policies in the region

Aftermath: the British undertook several measures to commemorate the loss of their military personnel
- Built memorials that constructed an image of the struggle as symbolic of British sacrifice and resistance

Question 21

What was an important site of contestation in the Lucknow uprising according to Kinger?

Answer 21

The Alam Bagh
- Strong wall of defence that was built by Lucknow’s last kind
- After the insurgency, the site became the primary station for British troops and supplies
- Despite multiple attempts, the revolutionaries were unable to capture the Alam Bagh
- A memorial of British Major General Sir Henry Havelock was built in the Alam Bagh: this measure completely transformed the royal space into a site exclusively commemorating imperial loss
- The protection of the memorial was synonymous to the protection of British interests

Question 22

How did India reclaim space and history after independence according to Kinger?

Answer 22

• Despite British efforts to erase counternarratives, alternate histories of the sites of uprisings were kept safe through oral retellings and poetry
• Aug 15th 1957, when India gained independence the site of the Kanpur memorial was vandalized
• British measures to safeguard memorials were undone once India gained freedom and independence
• Vandalization of memorials was common and fuelled by resentment from the Empire’s practices of exclusion, which refused to acknowledge Indian insurgents as subjects of their own history
• The Kanpur site now contains statues of Indian revolutionaries who led the insurgency, symbolic change that now recognizes the sites as spaces of revolution and not of imperial commemoration
• Legacy today: Lucknow and Kanpur remain enduring symbols of anti-colonial resistance and the nationalist struggle in India

Question 23

What are the main arguments of Dhanashree Thorat?

Answer 23

• The infrastructure of the modern internet, particularly the undersea fiber optic cable network is deeply rooted in colonial practices established during the era of the telegraph
• The telegraph was the precursor to the modern internet infrastructures
• The geographical layout of internet infrastructure today reflects colonial legacies and power dynamics: the location of undersea cables and telegraph lines are not just technical decisions, but the outcome of historical relationships of dominance and subjugation
• Thorat advocates for a critical understanding of internet infrastructure that considers its colonial origins and ongoing impacts on global communications
• Calls for a decolonial approach to understanding digital infrastructure and developing more equitable communication networks today

Question 24

What does Thorat mean in her metaphor of ‘sedimentation’?

Answer 24

• Sedimentation: describes how various layers of technological development have accumulated over time
• Each layer carries implications of its historical context which affects how current digital infrastructures operate
• Emphasis on the interconnectedness of communication networks

Question 25

What is the global digital divide? (Thorat)

Answer 25

• Inequalities in internet access between countries in the Global North and the Global South, result of colonial practices of control and exclusion

Question 26

Why is the undersea fiber optic cable network so important? (Thorat)

Answer 26

• Key element in the material infrastructure of the internet
• In 2017, approximately 428 known undersea cables were responsible for over 99% of Internet connectivity in the world, played a big role in shaping global communications

Question 27

What raw material was the telegraph dependent on? (Thorat)

Answer 27

Gutta-percha
- 19th century: the first underwater telegraph lines were laid using gutta-percha
- Raw material that insulated the underwater cables, found in the Malay Peninsula
- It is estimated that the cable industry destroyed 88 million gutta-percha trees to build the telegraph network

Question 28

In what ways was the telegraph an instrument of colonial control? (Thorat)

Answer 28

• It was dominated by British colonial administration, and built on exploited native labour and Indigenous resources
• It controlled territories, commerce, information, and colonized people
• It was framed within the civilizing mission, where technological progress gave the colonial administration a facade of civility- covering the systemic violence at the core of imperial projects
• It promoted imperial domination by enabling faster communicationon and supporting the economic exploitation of India by the British
• The telegraph was championed for uniting the Indian people while colonial powers advanced policies to instill social divisions

Question 29

How did the telegraph evolve post-independence in India? (Thorat)

Answer 29

• During the Indian independence movement, revolutionaries appropriated the telegraph to fight back against colonial forces
• The telegraph became a tool of anti-colonial nationalism, as it allowed for the rapid dissemination of information and ideas that fostered a sense of national consciousness and solidarity among Indian people
• Post-independence: the telegraph’s material infrastructures and colonial ideologies continue to shape India’s communications landscape today

Question 30

What does Thorat say about ownership of internet infrastructures today?

Answer 30

• Ownership remains concentrated in the United States and Europe
• It is difficult to reconcile the notion of the internet as a core utility to all citizens of the world, and a fundamental human right in the digital age when internet infrastructures remained owned by private interests in the Global North
• We must interrogate the accountability and commitment that these providers hold in improving internet access worldwide

Question 31

What are 2 decolonial solutions to the modern internet infrastructure that have taken place according to Thorat?

Answer 31

1. SEACOM cable line
   - Launched in 2009, connecting East Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia in an undersea fiber optic cable network
   - Represents a significant step toward digital sovereignty and economic empowerment in the regions it connects
   - Line was built with 75% African investment
   - Changing the narrative of cable networks that have historically oriented around colonial power centers
   - Creating knowledge and communication pathways between postcolonial states
2. Tata Communications
   - Government-owned company that emerged in 1986 and brought public internet service to India
   - Initiative that is slowly decentering the internet infrastructure