The Global Antarctic: Map Assemblages and the Performing of Territory

Abstract

To understand what maps do, it is necessary to scrutinize the relation between a map and its surroundings. In critical cartography there has been a tendency to denaturalize maps, but little research has been done on the relation between map and textual context. However, there is a need to scrutinize how maps work in textual and visual contexts, how the reader utilizes surrounding information to use and understand maps, and how the understanding of maps influences the understanding of the other elements. This article explores the interplay between different textual and visual elements that are supposed to be read together and in relation to each other. To do this, the article proposes the term “map assemblages.” The case chosen for discussion is the unsettled territories in Antarctica and three Norwegian news articles that refer to a Norwegian land claim in Antarctica. Furthermore, the article argues that through the interplay between maps, pictures, and text, the Norwegian territorial claim in Antarctica is reproduced and strengthened.