This map details the journeys taken by European explorers in the 1400-1500s
America is often recognized as being one of the greatest nations on earth. Truth is, this map of the week would argue, that America owes it to Europe, and especially the explorers in the 1400-1500s, for figuring out that their land even existed! This map entitled “European Exploration” coherently displays the routes taken by all the notable European explorers, many of which made maps of the world based on their journeys (off of which we’ve based most of our modern maps). This new land was stumbled upon and was, at first, thought to be the Eastern coast of Asia. Further exploration by Spain, Portugal, France and England made this map, along with every other modern representation of the world, possible. Through the historical context, intended audience, and cultural implications, this map provides an understanding of Europe as the leading nation in exploration due to the apparent time period, lack of professionalism, silences, and the concept of a shrinking world.
This map is clearly from a European perspective; the continent (namely, Western Europe) is dead center and all routes lead out form there. The emphasis of this map is primarily focused on the four countries taking part in the exploration, including the explorers of those countries. Notice the lack of detail on every other landmass that is not Europe. Furthermore, the little information this map provides about the other landmasses is clearly dated. The entire landmass known today as “Asia” is labeled on the left as “Russian Empire” and on the right as “Siberia.” The perspective here is far from modern-day. Although the rest of the land is hardly the focus of this map, it helps to establish the historical context.
The audience is likely intended to be European, as Europe is in the center and doing all the work; however, a more fitting audience appears to be just about anyone. Sure, this map wants to show Europe as the founders of the world. As bold as that may sound, this map gives Europe that identity as the nation that founded, explored, and documented all of these massive and unknown places. It could certainly function as a “weapon of imperialism,” as Harley would put it. The map empowers Europe as an empire; they explored, they documented history, and they possess that knowledge that no one else does. That being said, this map is not intended for the scholarly elite. The color-coding suggests a possible younger/less-educated audience. Anyone could read this map, but it would not benefit someone that was an expert in the field of European history. By the way, did you notice that “European” is misspelled in the title? There is an obvious lack of professionalism in this map, which suggests that it was intended for anyone that just wanted to get a basic visual understanding of European exploration.
The silences in this map really say something about the cultural context. The major “silence” in this map is the staggering lack of detail on any of the land that is not European. Granted, this information is unimportant for this map. This map reveals the exploration of unknown lands and conceals the details of those lands. The map is more about the journey itself and less about the actual destination. The explorers only knew of (present-day) Africa, America and Asia as giant landmasses; consequently, this map portrays them as such. There are practically no names or colors in the map except for Europe, because everything else was a mystery. The focus is on the coasts, not the inlands. European explorers concerned themselves with the size and shape of the world, not (yet) with what these new lands held on the inside. The information shown in this map also gives the perspective of a “shrinking world.” Europe never knew what lay beyond the horizon of the Atlantic Ocean; that is, until Magellan circumnavigated the globe (first voyage to ever accomplish this). This voyage gave the Europeans an idea of just how big our world is. Having conquered the horizons, the limits of the seas became more familiar and their world just got a lot smaller.
Historical context, apparent audience, and cultural implications of this map reveal a great deal about its message and its purpose. Each of these aspects contributes to the idea that this map portrays Europe as the nation of exploration; the ones who discovered the shape, size, and limits of the world; the nation that took the initiative to discover new and unknown places.