Week 1 - Cartographic Interpretations, Readings: Cosgrove and Harley Flashcards
How do images shape and constitute ideas?
Images have agency; they shape cultural and imaginative ideas, including temporal differences, and have an interpretive function.
In what ways is the ‘view from above’ evident in images?
Religious imagery (God looking down), and Technology (Drone footage)
How have maps been viewed differently in Geographic thought?
Previously, images have been just observed, but over the last few decades, pictures have been tangible, and interactional. A scientific tool.
What is the definition of a map?
Graphic representations that facilitate a spatial understanding of things, concepts, conditions, processes, or events in the human world (Harley & Woodward, 1992)
In recent geographic thought, what function do maps have?
- Maps have social uses.
- Maps as an immediate snapshot portraying
objective neutrality. - Maps as a language, forming cartographic literature
- Maps to help understand the world around us (instrument of “social faith”, believing things into existence)
How can one decipher a map?
Title, Mapped Area, Scale, Language, Authorship, Date & Origin, Medium, Audience, Purpose. (Cartouche - author note and intended audience)
In what ways can maps differ projecting the earth?
- 2D v. 3D
- Maps never depict the ‘whole’
- Flattenable (slide), Conic (funnel), Cylindrical (flat)
What do contemporary critical cartographies argue about maps?
Argue that they have transformed from unproblematic communication devices to a configuration of power relations imbued with knowledge.
Argue they are performative exercises, contributing to the creation of worlds. (from epistemology to ontology)
What are the three ways Harley (1998) interprets maps?
As a new turn in geographic thought, Harley applies a critical cartography perspective:
1) Maps as a kind of language, a literature urging questions of creation, content, and consumption
2) Maps as carrying an image - iconology revealing a deeper meaning tied to politics and power
3) Maps as a product of social context
Provide an example how you might interpret a map?
1) Language and Communication - Map’s purpose: colonial boundaries, trade routes, resource distribution. Readership: colonial admins?, military strategists?
2) Symbolism and Imagery - Flags, ports, railways, resources. Visual hierarchy, emphasised regions.
3) Social context - intense colonial competition, power struggle, motivations, dominance.
In one sentence, summarise the argument of Harley (1998)
Rooted in critical geography, Harley challenges traditional positivist approaches, suggesting that maps are not more representations of geographical landscapes but are complex texts imbued with power, shaping the way we understand and organise space. Harley invites critical thought of maps, in three ways, raising questions of the universality of political contexts in mapping history, and its shaping power via content and communication.
In one sentence, summarise the argument of Cosgrove (2001)
Closely associated with critical cartography in critical geographical thought, Cosgrove examines the power of cartographic representations in shaping geopolitical understanding and the ideological underpinnings of maps. In particular, Cosgrove explores how the globe has shaped geopolitical narratives, revealing unique ideas of human thought (from classical, Christian, oceanic, visionary, emblematic, enlightened, virtual).
What is the Apollonian View?
The Apollonian View represents a perspective that values order, rationality, and clarity. In the context of cartography and Earth imagery, this view would manifest in detailed, accurate maps and visuals that convey orderliness and control.
