Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

‘Maps of meaning’: Landscapes on the map and in the mind – discovering Paldiski, estonia

2006; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 60; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/00291950500535244

1502-5292

Tiina Peil,

Philippine History and Culture

The article explores relationships between representations (maps) and the represented (landscape), focusing on the role of maps in creating places and as devices in the generation and manipulation of knowledge. The production and use of maps is seen as part of power relations in society, referred to in Foucault's term as 'games of strategy', including dominance and control of the natural environment and the social system, but also resistance to and negotiation of power positions in society. The main objective is to examine the meanings given to one limited area in Estonia, Paldiski – covering the Pakri peninsula – by presenting its contemporary content and considering different angles for interpretation. The real and assumed ties between the physical environment and past and present representations are conveyed in the descriptive form of a map of a walk. The article also includes a brief presentation of the history of mapping in Estonia in the confines of the modern state – the Swedish kingdom, Russian empire, military Germany, the Soviet Union, and Estonia. The role of individuals in creating landscapes in physical and representational form is a central issue in the case of Paldiski, based on which the more general concerns of 'laying down the law' and justice in landscape and society may be examined.