Mapping, Postmodernism, Indigenous People And The Changing Direction Of North American Cartography
- 1 June 1991
- journal article
- Published by University of Toronto Press Inc. (UTPress) in Cartographica: The International Journal for Geographic Information and Geovisualization
- Vol. 28 (2) , 1-12
- https://doi.org/10.3138/5j46-51t2-7m42-316g
Abstract
Cartographers have an opportunity now to make fundamental changes in the direction and scope of academic cartography. As a catalyst for change, J.B.Harley's proposal for a 'postmodern' cartography is important for text-based societies like ours, but it will restrict our studies unnecessarily if taken alone. I provide a critique of postmodernist thought as applied to cartography, focusing especially on its inability to account for mapping in non-textual, non-Cartesian cultures where action and process are often crucial. Consequently, I propose a process approach to cartography as an additional basis for reorienting the field. Finally, I couple this approach with map deconstruction to interpret recent Inuit (Eskimo) toponymic mapping as part of a lengthy cross-cultural dialogue about Arctic North America.Keywords
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