Title: PDP 1- "The Cartographer's Mirror"
Author Bio: Arthur Jay Klinghoffer is a college professor, who teaches political science and has pursued studies in the fields of Soviet Foreign Policy, Russian politics, and African politics. In his work, "The Cartographer's Mirror," he includes details about his childhood fascination with maps, and describes his view of maps as, "the visual representation of world politics." This early interest in geography prompted Klinghoffer to devote his studies to the impact of maps and the Earth on worldwide interactions. As a result, he seems to view maps primarily as a political tool and neglects to acknowledge that they have numerous other uses in which minor subjectivity does not play a role. For example, road maps are simply a means of navigation and are not more or less helpful based on the values or position of the cartographer. Due to his slight bias and field of expertise, he fails to portray the entire scope of maps and focuses almost solely on the aspects that relate to politics. The author takes on a somewhat hypocritical potstion in this document, as he criticizes the bias present in cartographers without removing his own personal bias from his analysis. Overall, and despite several instances of personal opinion and subjectivity in his work, Klinghoffer seems to be a reliable source within his facet of study.
Date/Context: This primary document was written in modern times with modern day knowledge and technology at hand. As a result of this position the author was able to provide a full analysis of the long history of cartography and compare today's geographic and geopolitical understanding with that of the first societies to map out the world. This stance is advantageous because it allows for a fair consideration of all developments in the field of cartography. Klinghoffer's analysis is not specific to any historical period, but generalizes and covers a large portion of the span between ancient and modern societies.
Summary: While maps are often considered to be indisputable and entirely reliable, all maps inherently contain some form of cartographer bias or personal influence. Just as humans once naturally assumed that the solar system is centered around the Earth, cartographers consciously or subconsciously center maps from their personal perspective and slightly misrepresent the Earth. Klinghoffer denotes that this subjectivity is inevitable because individuals are incapable of completely removing themselves from their own "values, aesthetics, and politics." In addition, mapmaking naturally involves some elements of political perspective and even creativity. As a result, maps tend to, "'construct' the world rather than 'reproduce' it." As seen in the works of early cartographers, maps often include elements of fantasy and imaginative invention to fill the unknown areas of the Earth. While modern maps have largely eliminated these unsupported guesses, there is still an excessive amount of uncertainty and variation. For example, the world and its geography is constantly changing due to continental drift, shifts in sea levels and tides, manmade features, and relentless political border disputes. Due to this constant evolution of Earth's geography, maps are drawn and redrawn, which results in perpetual controversy. While maps remain an essential tool to the political and geographic function of the entire world, they must be used critically and with an understanding of their innate bias.
Key Quotation: "Maps and pictures are two-dimensional representations of a three-dimensional reality, and both contain an altered perspective even if there is an effort to conceal it."
Identifying Characteristics: Based on reading the PDP and the document itself, it is evident that "The Cartographer's Mirror" has a main characteristic, which deals with the existence of bias whenever a cartographer creates a map. A cartographer's maps are most often based on his "act of seeing", rather than "what was seen."
ReplyDeleteFeedback: Overall, this PDP is an excellent summarization of "The Cartographer's Mirror." The main idea of this article, which is the presence of bias in all maps, is well-stated and thoroughly explained. Furthermore, the reasoning behind the certain presence of this subjectiveness is described: cartographers are simply unable to construct a map without their personal opinions interfering. The summary also contains a well-constructed conclusion, which concisely asserts that maps are necessary to understand the world's geography, but that the bias within each and every map must be noted.
Another aspect regarding the inaccuracy of maps could be included within this summary. Every map will still be somewhat inaccurate, regardless of whether or not personal bias is included. The world is spherical, and when the Earth's three-dimensional figure is attempted to be projected onto a two-dimensional map, an amount of distortion will always occur. Features such as "distance and angles" are distorted as a result of the "flattening of the poles" and "equatorial bulge."