Cartophilia
Maps and the Search for Identity in the French-German Borderland
The period between the French Revolution and World War II was a time of tremendous growth in both mapmaking and map reading throughout Europe. There is no better place to witness this rise of popular cartography than in Alsace-Lorraine, a disputed borderland that the French and Germans both claimed as their national territory. Desired for its prime geographical position and abundant natural resources, Alsace-Lorraine endured devastating wars from 1870 to 1945 that altered its borders four times, transforming its physical landscape and the political allegiances of its citizens. For the border population whose lives were turned upside down by the French-German conflict, maps became essential tools for finding a new sense of place and a new sense of identity in their changing national and regional communities.
Turning to a previously undiscovered archive of popular maps, "Cartophilia" reveals Alsace-Lorraine's lively world of citizen mapmakers that included linguists, ethnographers, schoolteachers, hikers, and priests. Together, this fresh group of mapmakers invented new genres of maps that framed French and German territory in original ways through experimental surveying techniques, orientations, scales, colors, and iconography. In focusing on the power of "bottom-up" maps to transform modern European identities, "Cartophilia" argues that the history of cartography must expand beyond the study of elite maps and shift its emphasis to the democratization of cartography in the modern world.
Contents:
Introduction
Part I. Mapping Borders
1. States Map Their Borders
2. What Makes a Good Border
3. Language Maps
Part II . Borderland Maps for Everyday Life
4. Finding the Center
5. Maps for Movement
6. Visualizing Strasbourg
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography
Index
About the Author
Catherine Tatiana Dunlop is assistant professor of modern European history at Montana State University, Bozeman.
Reviews
"With lively and polished prose, Dunlop traces the many ways that visual imagery both reflected and shaped the shifting boundary between France and Germany. Her ability to explicate all types of cartographic knowledge – from state-sponsored surveys to popular "citizen maps" – makes this a most welcome addition to the history of cartography" – Susan Schulten, University of Denver
"'Cartophilia' uncovers a remarkable range of "citizen cartographers" who mapped one of Europe's most iconic borderland regions. From foldable hiking charts to popular village maps, Dunlop draws upon quotidian objects that, in her analysis, become cultural symbols underpinning the modern nation. Not since Peter Sahlins' Boundaries has there been such an insightful analysis of French cartographic culture at its own geographic limits" – Neil Safier, The John Carter Brown Library at Brown University
"Dunlop's 'Cartophilia' is an impressive book. Taking the borderland of Alsace-Lorraine as her point of reference, and 'popular' cartographers as her subject, Dunlop demonstrates, with a keen eye for telling details, the role of maps and cartographic practices in the formation and re-formation of national and regional identities over the course of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. 'Cartophilia' is cogently organized, elegantly and succinctly written, and original in its emphases and contributions" – Raymond Craib, Cornell University
"There is a freshness in Dunlop's writing, a desire to innovate and rethink that is remarkable. Dunlop does not paint by numbers, filling in a tableau well-established by others. Rather, 'Cartophilia' is conceptually bold in combining history and geography in a way that is unique and fascinating. It is also methodologically important, as she handles historical geography with a precision and a delicacy that I have not yet seen among historians or geographers. Cartophilia is an impressive work that will set the model for scholars and students for years to come" – Stephen Harp, History, University of Akron
