While doing my readings for this week, I couldn’t help but think of the 3D maps rendered in the feature film, Avatar. While the maps that were depicted were integral to imperial, capitalistic machinations of the human characters in the film, they appeared to be very similar to those of the maps from this week’s readings. Both served the sole purpose to integrate extant knowledge of an unfamiliar territory with the the desired effect. While this sounds confusing, what I really mean to say is that they saw only what they wanted to see. As cheesy as the message of Avatar was, the narrative is much of the same as what we read this week: that Western societies only strove to understand their surroundings to the extent upon which they could profit.
I think that Harley is saying much of the same as last week: that maps are an outward symbol of the power discourse struggle over the course of the past 500 years. Nothing entirely new here, except that examples are given. I found the example of linguistic manipulation to be particularly influential, as many traditional Amerindian places were renamed on the maps, not only for the ease for the Europeans, but as a way of erasing the memory of the natives entirely. Mundy’s article about the Nuremburg map fits in the same vein, that maps often have deeper symbolic meaning than just pictorially. I think proper semiotic investigation into each map is entirely needed- which is exactly what Mundy did.
Also, did anyone find her name to be completely ironic when applying a semiotic reading to the content of the article?? Mundy, mundi?
Lewis brings the concept of semiotics and power full-circle explaining how the knowledge of the indigenous population was used by the European colonists (up until the 20th century!!!!) to better situate their topographical context. I felt like the Europeans were cheating in a manner, that they only used the Amerindians so far as they needed to take their land. I felt that this week was sort of disorienting as well. I had a very difficult time grasping the nature of some of the maps depicted in the articles as they are not set out in a way that I, with my Western Education, would understand. Perhaps one of the points to be learned this week is that to be able to properly interpret maps is to disconnect from the normal discourse and try to interpret it in its own context?
Digital Iconoclasm 
I think you hit a good point on the contextual viewing of maps. I too did have a hard time interpreting and wrapping my head around some of the indigenous maps. Especially with their pictorial nature. I think it’s very easy to see what you want to see, which might not be very much because the intended symbolic meaning just goes over your head, be that intentional or not. It seems to involve a lot of effort, but in digging to get the right context and to not exploit it for personal or imperial gain.
I’ve never seen Avatar, but I have heard of the cheesy factor in its message, haha.
Liz Lemon on Avatar: “They weren’t Marines. Some of them were former Marines. But they were mercenaries working for a space mining company. What? Should we just sit here and be wrong all day!”
Okay now that THAT is out of my system… with regards to the European “linguistic manipulation of maps” something else that I thought was particularly interesting about naming practices was not only that Europeans would change place names to show domination of native tribes, but also the different ways that natives and Europeans would go about choosing a place name.
According to Harley, most natives would use the place name to describe the area (makes sense) where as Europeans would use the names to recreate social hierarchies into the landscape. For example, Virginia is named after “the virgin Queen” (sidenote: the jig is up!) Elizabeth I. This is obviously done to pay homage, but also think about the fact that Elizabeth is the highest of the totem poll of English hierarchy, therefore the entire colony is named after her. Where as the county of Fairfax, a small geographical region, is named after Lord Fairfax, someone lower down on the pay scale.
It also made me think of the fact that European explorers named Iceland, Iceland to make it seem barren and frigid even though it is quite green to discourage settlement. Whereas Greenland, which is covered in ice, was named that to trick immigrants into traveling there. And yes, I learned that from D2: The Mighty Ducks. GO TEAM ICELAND!
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