In his work, Geography and Vision, scholar Denis Cosgrove makes the following observation:
“Mapping, the cognitive and creative process rather than the scientific and design aspects of map-making, has more than one meaning. Most simply, it refers to the locating and way-finding practices of recording places and things in space… But mapping also suggests more broadly cognitive and imaginative processes of discovering and denoting out place within the world, and of ordering the worlds we experience through spatial representations: graphically, pictorially, even narratively and performatively.”[1]
Mapping is the physical process of representing spaces with a symbolic language. As Cosgrove asserts, it is not merely rooted in scientific design, but rather a “creative process.”[2] Some theorists have included both the consumption and circulation of maps in the active process of mapping. Mapping constructed a cartographic language in how physical spaces are represented.
Etymology
The term ‘mapping’ emerged as the physical act of creating a ‘map.’ Map is derived from the Latin ‘mappa,’ which means napkin, or a cloth “that was used to signal the start of games.”[3] Into the ninth century, ‘mappa mundi’ appeared to “describe a representation of the known world.”[4] Early mapmakers had recorded some of their maps on this cloth, likely explaining the origin of this connection. It is important to note, however, that the materiality of maps was expansive. This included floor mosaics, paintings, tabletops, among much else.[5]
The term ‘mapping,’ or “to map out in the figurative sense” originates in the 1610s.[6] This definition of mapping points to Cosgrove’s own interpretations on Renaissance mapmaking as having “more than one meaning.”[7] The period in which ‘mapping’ is cited highlights the fact that it is specifically an early modern term and therefore is essential for a study of early modern representations of space.
(Link: https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/anglo-saxon-world-map#)
Caption: The Anglo-Saxon Mappa Mundi (2nd quarter of the 11th century)
The Language of Mapping
Many of the theories of mapping highlight the notion of representation. As the historian Richard Unger describes, “there was no terminology to distinguish between making maps and painting” during the early modern period.[8] Again, there is a clear language conflation between artmaking and map-making that is critical to understand the definition of mapping.
By mapping, mapmakers could manipulate physical space could by using subtle symbols or blatant methods of visual representation. As is apparent in the map of Turin, Italy by Frederich Bernhard Werner, by choosing to label only a specific forty buildings, the mapmaker presents ‘silences’ to the viewer. Housing is hidden, and the city’s magnificence and splendor are highlighted. Mapping presents a perceived complete reality for the viewer, yet they are granted only the mapmaker’s chosen portions.
Within this context, it is also important to note the importance of fluidity to mapping. As Edney writes, “Mapping processes are fluid, the maps they generate are mutable and volatile. Nothing about mapping is fixed and stable.”[9] In other words, space is not predetermined but can be controlled and structured by the mapmaker or even the patron. While a map may depict a single historical moment, the significance and meaning of the map can evolve over time.
Withers, in Placing the Enlightenment, inserts the notion of power and governance in his definition of mapping. He states, “Mapping was a material form of state governance and spatial ordering in the Age of Reason, not just a metaphorical procedure for the classification of knowledge.”[10] Mapping can help construct power through the dominance of physical spaces.
With the case of Turin, Italy, once more, the political is evident through understanding the context of the mapmaker. Friedrich Bernhard Werner was a German chorographer depicting an Italian city. With their history of alliances, Italy and the Germanic states had a relationship of strategic importance. Thus, Werner chose to highlight features of the city that emphasized their military, religious, and physical dominance. One can even note how nature is pushed to background, controlled and relegated by the city itself.
Beyond the political, mapping was a moral tool. As Cosgrove describes, “the measure of mapping is not restricted to the mathematical; it may equally be spiritual, political or moral.[11] For mapping to be moral, it had the potential to not only dramatically structure one’s interpretation of reality but one’s own values. Morality is an equally potent tool in mapmaking, particularly during the early modern period.
Example Quotes
Cosgrove, Denis. Geography and Vision: Seeing, Imagining and Representing the World. London: I.B. Tauris, 2008.
“Mapping, the cognitive and creative process rather than the scientific and design aspects of map-making, has more than one meaning. Most simply, it refers to the locating and way-finding practices of recording places and things in space… But mapping also suggests more broadly cognitive and imaginative processes of discovering and denoting out place within the world, and of ordering the worlds we experience through spatial representations: graphically, pictorially, even narratively and performatively.” 68.
Cosgrove, Denis. "Cultural Cartography: Maps and Mapping in Cultural Geography / Les Cartes Et La Cartographie En Géographie Culturelle." Annales De Géographie 117, no. 660/661 (2008): 159-78.
“Mapping is an active process which involves both a ‘complex architecture of signs’ : graphic elements with internal forms and logics capable of theoretical disconnection from any internal forms and logics capable of theoretical disconnection from any geographical reference and a ‘visual architecture’ through which the worlds they construct are selected, translated, organized, and shaped.” 167.
Edney, Matthew H. Cartography: The Ideal and Its History. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2019.
“Act of producing, circulating, and consuming maps.” 1.
"The representation of spatial complexity." or "a function of spatial discourses" that produces maps. 41.
“Mapping processes are fluid, the maps they generate are mutable and volatile. Nothing about mapping is fixed and stable.” 234.
Unger, Richard W. Ships on Maps: Pictures of Power in Renaissance Europe. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010.
“Map making and landscape painting were similar activities and often done by the same people. In the two there were similar problems of selecting what to show of the earth and how to represent those things on a plane surface. There was no terminology to distinguish between making maps and painting.” 2.
“Work of both historians and anthropologists has shown that there is a mapping impulse which is universal among human societies.” xiii.
Withers, Placing the Enlightenment: Thinking Geographically about the Age of Reason. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007.
“Mapping was a material form of state governance and spatial ordering in the Age of Reason, not just a metaphorical procedure for the classification of knowledge.” 13
[1] Cosgrove, Denis. Geography and Vision: Seeing, Imagining and Representing the World. London: I.B. Tauris, 2008. Pg. 68.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Hiatt, Alfred. “Maps,” The Encyclopedia of Medieval Literature in Britain. London: Queen Mary University of London, 2017. Pg. 1.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid.
[6] “map.” Online Etymology Dictionary. https://www.etymonline.com/word/map#etymonline_v_43705.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Unger, Richard W. Ships on Maps: Pictures of Power in Renaissance Europe. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010. Pg. 2.
[9] Edney, Matthew H. Cartography: The Ideal and Its History. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2019. Pg. 234.
[10] Withers, Placing the Enlightenment: Thinking Geographically about the Age of Reason. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007. Pg. 13.
[11] Cosgrove, Denis. Mappings. London: Reaktion Books, 1999. Pg. 2.