The role of cartographic culture in the development of cognitive, scientific, communicative and creative human activity

Shulgina Ol'ga Professor, Chair of the Department of Geography and Tourism at Moscow City Teachers’ Training University 129226, Russia, g. Moscow, pr-d 2-I sel'skokhozyaistvennyi, 4 olga_shulgina@mail.ru Other publications by this author     Shul'gina Dar'ya Pavlovna PhD in Art History Associate Professor of the Department of General and Russian History of the Institute of Humanities of the State Autonomous Educational Institution of Higher Education of the City of Moscow "Moscow City Pedagogical University" 129226, Russia, g. Moscow, ul. 2-I sel'skokhozyaistvennyi proezd, 4 SHulginaDP@mgpu.ru

Mikhailenko Nikita Leonidovich Geography teacher of the State budgetary educational institution of the city of Moscow "School No. 1517" 123103, Russia, g. Moscow, ul. Zhivopisnaya, 11, of. 1 nikitamix@mail.ru

Geographical maps as a phenomenon of world culture play a significant role in many spheres of human life and activity. The research is based on literary, cartographic sources, materials of museum expositions and modern cartographic exhibitions, a collection of maps of the authors' personal archive, significant experience in teaching cartographic and geographical disciplines at university and school. The methods of visual and system-structural analysis, comparison, historical and logical are used in the work. The scientific novelty of the research consists in the systematization and generalization of multiple versatile information characterizing the manifestations of cartographic culture, the conditions of its formation, the components of this culture, in proving by examples the importance of cartographic culture in the life of a modern person.

Having appeared in ancient times, maps have gone a long way of development ^[3], transforming from primitive handwritten drawings to magnificent in design, created by the greatest painters of the Renaissance ^[29], and to unique in informative cartographic works created on a computer – in geoinformation systems ^[2].

Over time, the role of cards has increased and increased so much that it is already difficult to imagine the life of a modern person without them. Even if a person is far from geography and professional cartography, he has to deal with the visualization of spatial information. He sees maps made with varying degrees of detail in weather forecasts on TV, on the Internet, on city streets, in the subway, on smartphone screens. People use handwritten cartographic sketches to transmit spatially oriented information, route diagrams.

The spheres of using maps in our life are very diverse: it is both a means of cognition and an element of the methodology of scientific research, it is a powerful public channel of information and a means of communication, it is a sphere of diverse creative activity (Fig. 1).

 Rice. 1. Areas of human activity in which maps are used

The multidimensional perception of the map as a phenomenon of civilization has given rise to a whole layer of culture – cartographic culture, without which the life of a modern person is unthinkable.

The formation of cartographic culture is one of the tasks of school geographical education. This problem in the context of geographical culture was touched upon by V.P. Maksakovsky ^[15]. The level of cartographic culture is determined by his mastery of the language of the geographical map - conventional signs, free orientation in the "vocabulary of the map".  

The process of mastering cartographic culture in the process of geography school education is presented in Table 1.

Table 1

Cartographic skills formed in schoolchildren in the aspect of the development of cartographic culture (according to ^{[7, p. 17]})

Since all of us studied at school, it can be argued that the basics of cartographic culture were laid down in everyone's childhood and youth. However, one should not take this scheme of the sequence of mastering cartographic culture or, as they often say, "cartographic literacy" as the only possible one. Firstly, such a scheme is conditional and relevant for the modern education system. Secondly, cartographic literacy in one way or another can be possessed by any person interested in this, regardless of whether he studied the geography course in the sequence presented. Thirdly, computer technologies open up wide opportunities for the development of cartographic culture both at school and outside of school geographical education.

But it would not be right to unambiguously link cartographic culture with the level of technology development. In this vein, for example, Gerard Mercator, whose 550th anniversary was celebrated in 2022 and who was revered by his contemporaries as the king of cartographers during his lifetime, despite the lack of modern technical capabilities, in many ways surpasses many of our contemporaries in terms of cartographic culture, of course, with a discount on epochs. Or, if we talk about non-professionals, but about people who are not indifferent to cartography, then many residents of Holland during its heyday (XVII century), who saw in maps both a source of knowledge of the world and paintings worthy of decorating any interior, are generally comparable to our contemporaries in terms of cartographic culture, of course, also at a discount on the development of technologies, epochs, the level of development of cartography.

Note that the value of the cards since their appearance has always been greater than the usual illustration. The maps reflected knowledge about the geography of the world, the geopolitical ambitions of the rulers, and formed people's worldview about the world order ^[18]. That is why the maps of the past times are so interesting in their comparison with modern ones, and in this way the maps act as documentary sources, important and interesting for geographers, historians, political scientists. In this regard, we emphasize the interdisciplinary significance of maps, which are traditionally called geographical, since they reflect the spatial development of territories, and in fact (subject matter) are historical, political, linguistic, etc.

Mastering the cartographic language, as well as any other modern language: a foreign language, the language of music, the language of dance, the language of painting, the language of the genetic code, etc. – becomes an urgent need of every educated person.

Let's return to the concept of the language of a geographical map, the mastery of which is evidence of cartographic culture. The map is perceived both as an abstract model of space and as a kind of text written in a special language. It is the linguistic concept of cartography, which was comprehensively substantiated and actively defended by one of the outstanding cartographers of the turn of the XX-XXI centuries, A.A. Lyutyy ^[14], that is the key to understanding the role of cartographic culture in the life of society.  Without delving into the nuances of this theory, we note the main thing. The map language, like other languages, has evolved over time and improved. This language has two inseparable components (two sublanguages according to A.A. Lyutom): spatial certainty and meaningful certainty. Thus, any point on the map has its own spatial coordinates and semantic (meaningful) characteristics. The language of the map is distinguished by a peculiar grammatical structure, grammatical cartographic rules, and includes the concept of cartographic error. This language is very expressive and publicly accessible, acts as a strong means of education, education, and the assertion of the geopolitical position of the state in the country and abroad. The active propaganda of territorial claims and borders that run counter to generally accepted concepts through this language is often called cases of cartographic aggression.

Mastering the cartographic language, as well as any other modern language: a foreign language, the language of music, the language of dance, the language of painting, the language of the genetic code, etc. – becomes an urgent need of every educated person.

Cartographic culture in the system of cognitive activity is formed throughout people's lives. Familiarization with it is an important condition for existence in the space of a city, country, world; the basis for the development of cartographic thinking, which no longer provides for a mandatory look at the map to understand the location. Maps are of great importance for forming images of countries and regions in people's minds. In this sense, educational Atlases and maps play a key role, but especially National atlases, which are the hallmark of any country, a kind of symbol of the state along with the flag, coat of arms, anthem ^[25]. The National Atlas of Russia was first created in 2004-2008 by a large team of authors, including, in addition to cartographers, representatives of many specialties who participated in the conceptual justification and review of thematic maps, in the preparation of text fragments, and the selection of illustrations. This atlas consists of 4 volumes: volume I - General characteristics of the territory; Volume II - Nature. Ecology; volume III - Population. Economics; volume IV - History. Culture. The purpose of the Atlas is to provide an encyclopedic summary of information and knowledge about Russia: its nature, resources, population, economy, ecology, history, culture, heritage and other facets of the country's life, as well as development prospects. Despite the fact that some of the information on the maps of this atlas is not quite relevant, most of the maps and articles are still informative and have not lost their meaning. Some maps are genuine masterpieces of cartographic skill, excellent examples of the choice of plots, layout and design, which certainly contributes to the development of cartographic culture of all who come into contact with the pages of the National Atlas of Russia.

The development of cartographic culture in the aspect of cognitive activity is greatly facilitated by the hobby of philately, which is one of the mass hobbies in the world ^[26]. Tens of millions of people are engaged in stamp collecting, linking this process, first of all, with increasing their erudition, searching for new facts and knowledge. It has been written more than once about the possibility of using interest in collecting stamps, in working with schoolchildren, in the process of mastering various academic disciplines. At the same time, there is no doubt that philately gives the first cognitive impulse to study geography – young collectors are initially interested in countries that issue stamps and their attributes: coats of arms, flags, wildlife, landscapes, etc., including geographical maps. Placed on stamps, these maps form images of countries and regions, knowledge of national symbols (Fig. 2 and 3).

Fig. 2. Examples of images of maps and state symbols of different countries on postage stamps

Fig. 3. Examples of images of maps and brand symbols of Russian regions

 on postage stamps

Indeed, it is already difficult to find a country that has not issued a stamp with the image of its geographical map at one time or another. From these postal issues, an unusual and very extensive geographical and historical atlas can be compiled, which will raise interest in the study of geography and history. And, of course, maps on stamps are one of the powerful impulses of familiarization with cartography and the development of cartographic culture.

Cartographic culture in scientific activity is especially important and characteristic of most professional geographers. Cartographic research methods involving visual, statistical, mathematical analysis of maps, as well as modeling of processes and phenomena based on them have long proved their effectiveness in identifying spatial patterns of development of processes and phenomena both in the field of natural and social sciences. Thus, cartographic research methods have now acquired the status of general scientific. They are successfully used by representatives of different scientific fields. In addition to geography, cartographic methods are in demand in history, economics, demography, political science, management, culture, tourism, linguistics, statistics, etc.

There are examples of historical maps and atlases, economic and demographic maps, political and tourist maps, maps of cultural heritage as a relatively new plot that originated at the turn of the XX-XXI centuries, etc.

To a lesser extent, the cartographic method of research is common in language studies, but there are interesting examples of this, for example, the "All-Slavic Linguistic Atlas" ^[6].  The ability to "read the map" opens up broad prospects not only in the study of the evolution of language units, but also in solving the question of the history of the formation of ethnic communities, because the map in many respects has indisputable advantages over other linguistic sources, and sometimes it simply has no alternative ^[6].

Cartographic methods are also effective in studying the literary heritage, biography and creativity of poets and writers. I immediately remember the map of the 4th volume of the National Atlas of Russia "Russia in the works of Russian writers" ^{[17, p. 269]}. On this map, the icons show the places described in the works of Russian writers, and their portraits are placed along the perimeter along the map frame and are indicated by numbers corresponding to the numbering of the icons on the map.

There is even a certain typology of special and complex literary maps (Fig. 4).

Fig. 4. Types of special and complex literary maps ^{[10, p. 163]}

Figure 4 shows the types and, in fact, the plots of literary maps that allow, in the process of researching the life and work of a well-known writer or poet, to imagine the space of his life, travel routes, as well as images of spaces (real or fictional) described actions in his works. Fictional mental maps found in literary works ^{[16, 24]}, as a rule, add the reader's interest in the narrative, develop his imagination, captivate with their unusual and mysterious nature.

A textbook example is the map of the country of Greenland – "Green's Land", created on the basis of the works of Alexander Green. It depicts seas, islands, straits, cities with exotic names invented by Green… The map is located in the A. Green Museum in Feodosia.  This is the first thing you meet when you cross the threshold of the Green Museum. Walls, ceiling - in islands, bays... They surround you immediately, transport you to a world where reality and fiction are "intertwined in a wonderful, happy wrongness" ^[4].

Another textbook example is the map of Middle-earth by John R.R. Tolkien, published in his popular novel "The Lord of the Rings" (Fig. 5).

Fig. 5. A map of Middle–earth with notes by the author of the Lord of the Rings novels - John Tolkien in a color design by illustrator Pauline Baines ^[5]

Literary and geographical mapping is a promising area of research, the most important tool in the preservation and presentation of literary heritage.

Cartographic modeling of spatially expressed information to identify regional patterns can be carried out not only by constructing traditional maps, but also modified (anamorphic) ones that more succinctly reflect the analyzed indicators ^{[11, 22]}.

.

Anamorphosis (from Greek anamorphosis - distortion of forms, in this usage - distortion, expedient in any respect) transformed maps that are obtained as a result of the transition from the usual scale of lengths (or areas) to another "scale", for example, the volume of gross domestic product, population, etc. Figure 6 shows an anamorphosis map showing the placement of World Heritage Sites by country of the world.

Fig. 6. Placement of UNESCO World Heritage sites by countries of the world

 ^{[9, p. 6]}

In this figure, the correspondence of the location of the states and their outlines is clearly visible, and this is the only way the presented map resembles a traditional one. But the areas of countries are proportional here not to their real size, but to the number of World Heritage Sites.  This approach makes it possible to clearly represent the contribution of each country to the World Heritage. In particular, the dominance of Foreign European countries in this indicator is visible: Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Great Britain. Asia is clearly dominated by China and India. Russia's contribution to World Heritage Sites is comparable to the listed countries, although on the traditional map the area of its territory in km2 is unprecedentedly higher. This visual, albeit abstract example, of information transmission is very effective for perception.

It should be added that the compilation of mental maps is considered as a modern effective method of scientific research, well developed in relation to the study of urbanized spaces. Such maps, compiled on the basis of a sociological survey of city residents, reflect the perception of its image, the problems of the urban environment, and outline possible ways to solve them ^[21].     

Cartographic culture in communicative activity developed gradually: from the first rock carvings of routes to the best hunting sites as a translation of positive experiences for others to specially created static, dynamic, flat and three-dimensional, multi-media maps used in modern mass media. This became especially characteristic at the turn of the XX-XXI century, which was due, firstly, to the introduction of computer technologies into the creation of maps and the rapid computerization of the media themselves; secondly, to the openness of information that flooded in a powerful stream and required structuring, prompt and accessible presentation and spatial analysis; thirdly, the increase in the number of visual media, the inevitable aggravation of competition between them, the search for new ways of presenting information.

The main areas of use of cartographic images are news and weather; less often they are addressed by the authors of journalistic stories and travel stories. Maps and globes in modified formats are often used for the design of studios, the interiors of presentation halls; the design of rooms where world and regional forums are held. Maps and cartographic images – cartoids ^[20] are actively used in the videography of various advertising products.

Images of maps or cartoids in all these cases make a very significant subtext to what is happening on the screen or to the published material, testifies to the globality of what is happening, about "binding" to a specific territory, acts as additional information, visualizes the event and introduces a unique aesthetic that invariably attracts the eye and adjusts to seriousness, and sometimes to documentality perceptions.

Dynamism, volume, creative design – all this is due to the development of computer technologies that allow to experiment indefinitely with the presentation of cartographic images on the screen and in print media, contributes to the development of cartographic culture of both the author of publications and the viewers (readers) who perceive it.

Cartographic culture in creative activity is a special sphere that affects the essence of cartography ^[19]. Cartography and painting have common origins associated with a person's need for artistic expression of thoughts, images, ideas. The history of cartography and the history of painting not only touched in their development, but also had a mutual influence. A clear evidence of the relationship between cartography and fine art is the involvement of many outstanding artists and graphic artists in the creation of maps: Leonardo da Vinci, Albrecht Durer, Jacques Callot, Hessel Gerritz, Jacob de Gein, Franz Hogenberg, Matthius Merias, Theodor de Bray, Willem Hondius, Adrian Schoonebeck, Peter Picart, Alexey Zubov, Semyon, etc. This was especially characteristic in the Renaissance and Baroque periods, when geographical maps were created that competed in their beauty with paintings ^{[27, 28]}.

The commonality of cartography and fine art can also be traced in development - from realism to abstraction ^[12]. If the first cartographic signs on ancient maps resembled quite real images, now they have been replaced by abstract and conditional ones on the absolute majority of maps, non-traditional cartographic works have also appeared: anamorphoses, cartoids, mental maps. A similar process has been observed in the history of painting: the era of realism, with its desire to truthfully depict reality, sometimes forcing artists to work with a ruler, compasses and patterns, eventually gave way to impressionism, modernism, abstractionism.

And although at present cartography and painting in the Russian tradition belong to completely different branches of activity: cartography is the field of science, technology and production, and painting is artistic creativity, the relationship between them has not been interrupted. Cartographers in the process of creating maps, despite the strict canons and rules, must have a certain pictorial skill, taking care of the aesthetic design, attractiveness, receptivity of cartographic information. As for painting, at all times, both in Russia and abroad, cartographic motifs have invariably inspired some artists to create canvases filled with special content that emphasizes the spirit of the era, glorifying territorial, geopolitical, historical overtones, belonging of the depicted personalities to intellectual or state activities.

It is important to emphasize that the degree of attention of artists to cartographic images depended on the degree of knowledge of the world, the spread of geographical and cartographic knowledge, was also associated with the popularity of the realistic style and was largely due to ideological considerations. All these factors, thanks to the artists, contributed, along with teaching geography, to the spread of cartographic culture.

The study of the history of cartography and the history of painting has shown that cartographic motifs are most often found in the works of Dutch artists of the XVI-XVII centuries and in Soviet painting of the era of socialist realism. Here are some examples.

Among the Dutch artists, Jan Vermeer of Delft most often placed geographical maps on his canvases, usually of everyday subjects. For the sake of persuasiveness, we will give several of their names: "A young woman with a jug of water", "An officer and a laughing girl", "Letter", "Lady with a lute", "Geographer", "Artist's Workshop (Allegory of Painting)" (Fig. 7).

Fig.7. Jan Vermeer Delft "Artist's workshop (Allegory of painting)". Circa 1665 The Museum of the History of Art in Vienna (photo by D.P. Shulgina)

An example of a symbol map on a painting and a politicized cartographic background is presented on the canvas of the Soviet artist M.I. Krivenko "At Lenin's in the Kremlin" (Fig. 8).

Fig. 8. M.I. Krivenko "At Lenin's in the Kremlin", 1967

(a copy of an art postcard from the personal archive of D.P. Shulgina)

Cartographic motifs are also found on paintings of allegorical content. For example, in Salvador Dali (fig. 9).

Fig. 9. Salvador Dali "A geopolitical child watching the birth of a new person". 1943 ^[8]

Speaking about creative cartographic activity in the development of cartographic culture, we should mention such a trend in painting, when artists create figurative images based on maps ^[23]. Despite the controversial aesthetics of such creativity, bordering to a certain extent with vandal treatment of authentic cartographic works, we will give examples of such approaches (Fig. 10 and 11).

Fig. 10. Original works by Ingrid Debringer: Great Britain and Ireland ^[1]

Fig. 11. Maps series. Portraits on geographical maps in Ed Fireburn's art project ^[13]

This approach to painting on maps is not recognized by everyone, but the main thing is that cartographic works do not leave people indifferent to creativity, awaken fantasies, become memorable, which means that even with a negative attitude towards it, they contribute to familiarization with cartography.

Conclusions:

The concept of cartographic culture covers several aspects, including the ability of a person to understand, know, read maps; to have a developed cartographic thinking and a formed cartographic worldview; an idea of the richness and diversity of cartographic works; the ability to create thematic cartographic schemes at least at an elementary level. Undoubtedly, the possession of a high cartographic culture is inherent in professional cartographers and many modern geographers who, in addition to these aspects, have the ability to compile and competently analyze maps, including using digital technologies and geoinformation systems.

It is important for creative people to be able to turn to this civilizational phenomenon to increase the expressiveness of artistic works, to search for interesting ideas.

Cartographic language is one of the most important means of modern communication. This is one of the most voluminous and significant cultural, historical, and civilizational phenomena. Cartographic language has a great cognitive, ideological, ideological significance. The most important features of the cartographic language are: visibility, accessibility and comprehensibility even at the international level, information capacity.

The map is a unique form of knowledge organization and a source of new knowledge. The image of the country, as well as the image of any territory, is primarily formed using maps.

It is difficult to name spheres of life and activity, areas of scientific research where maps would not be used. In the process of making managerial decisions related to the development of territories, maps are almost always used. At the same time, maps can no longer be considered as only illustrations, only blind copying of reality.

How to navigate the variety of maps? To include geographical maps in the arsenal of communication, not to exclude maps from the everyday field of view, to learn to master the cartographic language as one of the interethnic and generally understandable languages of our time, to understand the significance of geographical maps as a phenomenon of civilization, and to consider cartographic culture an integral part of the general human culture.