Mappenstance.

William Tune/ Blog Entry/ 2/19/21

“And Did Those Feet In Ancient Times…”

One of the most important aspects of maps is their vulnerability to bias. Maps are at all times created and viewed through the mapmaker and the map consumer’s respective worldview. The epitome of this principle is Heinrich Bunting work Itinerarium Sacrae Scripturae. This was a book composed of multiple Christian works and multiple maps. Our “Map of the Week” is one of them. The chosen map is a three leafed map of the world with Jerusalem at its center, which will be referred to as the Hanover map. 

To further understand the significance of the Hanover Map, its history must be investigated, specifically its creator. Heinrich Bunting was born in Hanover, in modern Germany. According to Jacques Keilo of Centrici, the coat of arms of Hanover contained a three leaf clover, thus the shape of the Map and its given name. Its shape is undoubtedly due to the bias of Bunting as the three leafed clover would be a familiar yet applicable means to view Jerusalem. Europe, Asia, and Africa all converge in the Middle East, making Jerusalem a central point in the old world. As previously mentioned, the Hanover Map was part of the book Itinerarium Sacrae Scripturae, which was created in 1581. This date is further supported by the appearance of America in the bottom right corner of the map fraternizing with a leviathan and a ship. The Itinerarium Sacrae Scripturae houses similar works such as a map of the Middle East depicted as a horse. It is important to note that earth had already been accurately mapped at this point. This affirms  that Bunting’s maps were stylized pieces demonstrating a worldview, which has large significance for the history of  cartography.

Bunting’s map disregards established geographical facts and bends them to present a world view. This is significant because Bunting recognizes that maps are a conduit for social energy, according to Wood in Rethinking the Power of Maps, and he uses this social energy to make a present a worldview. Bunting, a Christian, depicts Jerusalem as a Christian city, demonstrated by his placement of  three crosses on Calvary. Calvary was the site of Jesus’ crucifixion, therefore an extremely important place for Christians. If Bunting was presenting this worldview from a Islamic standpoint, he might have displayed the Dome of the Rock instead. Interestingly, each continent has equal access to the Holy Land. This is an interesting detail because a Christian would want to lay claim to the city. As a whole this map is important to Cartography because it uses social energy to display the world as many view it, with the holy land in the center. This effectively illustrates the power religion holds in the perception of space in society and the human mind.

The Hanover Map also has significant connections to the worldview of the United States. The placement of Jerusalem as the center of the world is similar to the American provincialist idea that the United States is the center of the world. Many American maps have the nation centered to display its importance to the world, exactly like the Hanover Map. Another connection to the United States is Jerusalem’s openness to every continent. The United States advertises itself as a Nation of Immigrants exemplified by the inscription on the Statue of Liberty, “ Give me your tired, your poor…”. However, both the United States and Jerusalem are notoriously not open to everyone, depending on whoever is in power, which is another important connection between the two.

The Hanover Map created by Heinrich Bunting deserves to be “Map of the Week” due to its interesting history, significance to cartography through the use of social energy, and its meaningful connections to the contemporary politics of the United States. In studying this map, the significance of Religion in the human experience is highlighted. The focus on Jerusalem demonstrates the social energy that the city holds. In conclusion, this map is the epitome of the use of social energy to argue a worldview.

Works Cited

Jack Keilo ( Jacques Keilo ). “Jerusalem at the Very Centre of the World, Bunting’s Map and Social Construction.” Centrici, 3 July 2016, centrici.hypotheses.org/215.

The map we will be discussing in today’s post is the “World According to the Americans, 2012” from the Atlas of Prejudice, a book and a website by artist and writer, Yanko Tsvetkov. This map shows a clear view of how Americans see and identify rest of the world during the modern era. As everyone knows, America is the greatest country of them all and country of “make the dreams come true” and freedom. At least, that is what Americans like to think of themselves, which one can clearly see and conclude from the map where they labeled the USA as the “Land of Awesome.” The map is certainly a bit ignorant; however, the author/artist of this map is not ignorant himself, yet he is challenging American attitudes that are ignorant. The map seems to coincide perfectly with many American’s preconceived notions of places that they know little to nothing about. However, seeing such brazen prejudices laid out, country by country, might even shock them.

To start with, the map is not very detailed, which was the author’s/artist’s final purpose because he doesn’t want geographical details and accuracy to stand out. What he wants is trying to make a clear attempt to simplify the world into these stereotypical categories as seen by the Americans. This is why the map is made as just a plain, simple layout of the world where colors mark different countries, where oceans and seas are not covered with blue. In this way, they do not stand out and take the reader’s eye away from the actual meaning and purpose of the map. All the names are capitalized, which takes away from the meaning of capital key letters and makes the map a bit messy.

Furthermore, as mentioned before, the map shows just a general view with no deeper thinking about those countries, without more knowledge and research from people who view the rest of the world like that. The author/artist Tsvetkov is challenging the close-minded Americans who think that these countries still hold the same values that they used to in the past. They associate each country with what is most popular to them and how they see that population on social and economic levels. Everyone who knows and learned more about world situations and what is happening nowadays and how not just America, but the whole world is improving at a fast pace, probably has different associations towards each country that is labeled on this map.

If anyone who lives in those countries sees this map, they might be shocked at how the Americans still think of and see themselves. They would find it to be rude and offensive with zero respect for those who are not Americans. This map emphasizes the division between how Americans see the world and how others see Americans. Citizens outside America who love their country, and respect where they have been raised, might have their country pride offended. While Tsvetkov is making a very critical argument against America, he is also using a very dark kind of humor. The map is funny, but within that humor is a very sharp critique about American stereotypes of the world.

Personally, coming from Croatia, located in central and southeastern Europe, I find this map very offensive and heartbreaking. This map reveals that the great nation that I was looking up to my whole life and where I wanted to come study and live thinks so little of my birth home and undervalues it. This really makes me sad. Firstly, Balkan countries are similar, but we are still different nations with different traditions and values, and they cannot see us as one country. Secondly, to think of my home as simply “Bombs” in the map shows how little Americans know about not just history but the present day situation there as well. None of us chose to find ourselves in a war or to lose relatives, but that is our past. We have improved a lot since then and are one of the most beautiful and happiest countries if you ask me. Lastly, I am sure that these Americans are not even aware of how much they would like to be spending their holidays right in that area denoted as “bombs.” There are more and more Americans each year traveling to the Balkans and choosing us as one of the top summer destinations.

This map is inescapably and inevitably political. It makes a strong political protest against the simple-minded stereotypes that many Americans perpetuate. We can see such politics through putting America at the center of attention, with the rest of the world not nearly as good as “the land of awesome.” Everyone else on the map has problems and are either there only to serve the American economy and its people, or as an area to avoid because of a nation’s past. This map reminds us that the U.S. government makes all decisions based on what works in its favor and how it can secure themselves or make more money from other countries.

As a conclusion, it can clearly be said that this is a deliberately provocative map and designed to offend. But it also represents how Americans should educate themselves and try to actually learn about other countries and not just think that Americans are the greatest people on earth. For their success, Americans needs the rest of the world, and their resources, people, products, and so on. One nation can be better than another, but there is no the greatest and most ideal nation for anyone because we are all different and prefer various lifestyles that America is maybe unable to offer.  All in all, this map succeeds in carrying the power that represents stereotypes of the world from the American point of view.

Additional Map Blog Link: https://adventuresinmapping.com/page/2/

Map of Incidents related to ISIS.

The Islamic State, or ISIS, is a militant organization that emerged as an offshoot of al Qaeda in 2014. The terrorist group quickly took control of large parts of Iraq and Syria, raising its black flag in victory and declaring the creation of a caliphate and imposing strict Islamic rule. This map created by CNN portrays the terrorist activities of ISIS a radical Islamic terrorist group. It shows the attacks around the world—not just the attacks isolated to the Middle East. The map is very simple for a viewer to understand as the red points show attacks influenced directly by ISIS and the blue points represent those that were inspired by ISIS. However, the simplicity of the map is also negative as it leaves out many important details. The reason for leaving important details out could be because the map serves the United States’ foreign political agenda for increased war against terror.

The United States has been a vital acting force in the War on Terror and this map shows the damage done by the largest most active radical group. ISIS has conducted or inspired more than 140 terrorist attacks in over 30 countries. The exact statistics of their attacks are unknown due to the location of many of their attacks but the fatalities have been estimated to be at least 2,043 people and the injured include thousands more. The statistics and detail portrayed in this map is a large concern. The maps records the number of “incidents” within a certain area and the issue with this is that the word incident is very vague. An incident could stem from a stabbing all the way to a mass bombing.

The issues stated with the physical representation of the map on serves to benefit the political agenda of the United States. The lack of detail allows for more “incidents” to be recorded, thus making the impact of ISIS look greater. The maps political purpose is to inform people of the dangers of ISIS. It shows how large of an impact the terrorist organization has so that it justifies and explains the need for the War on Terror. It cartographically displays the need for American forces in the Middle East by showing that terrorism has spread rapidly and now has a tremendous effect on not just the Middle East but the whole world. The map is also made to inspire governments to be more active in ending world terror possibly through policy change and policing as it calls out each country and their statistics individually. 

The actual visual of the map is basic and simple in a zoomed out image. The background and countries are shaded grey with no border lines or country labels. This is to show that terrorism has no borders and is thus a global issue not a national one. The map uses a borderless projection to show that today’s globalized world is much more fluid even in the case of terrorism. The Map also includes a legend that shows that the larger the circle the more incidents per country. This is simple yet problematic because the size of the points are difficult to differentiate when viewing the map from a global perspective. In addition to the vague visual the map does not have any written explanation for the incidents portrayed.  The color scheme of the map is very important to notice—especially the choice of colors used. The attacks conducted directly by ISIS are in red because they stand out the most especially with the dull grey background. The attacks inspired by ISIS are in blue, a different color. This separation of the conduct of the attacks is important politically because it shows that ISIS is so powerful and dangerous that they can influence normal people to execute attacks in their name. This difference is very simplistic and easy to understand but too vague, it forces the viewer to make unnecessary assumptions. This separation could also be viewed politically because the areas in red are places the United States would like to deploy troops. The red points help the agenda because it shows that the United States wants to beat the “roots” of ISIS. 

In conclusion, this map is a political map created to inform the general public that terrorism has spread globally, enforcing the ideology that the United States needs to remain active in fighting the War on Terror in the Middle East, the stem of most terrorist organizations. The simplest yet vague portrayal of this projection make it an easy map to understand while steering the viewer in a political direction. The lack of details allows for more points which helps the United States war effort.

The interactive map is available in the source below.

Sources:

https://www.cnn.com/2015/12/17/world/mapping-isis-attacks-around-the-world/index.html