“Harley's distinctive contribution to scholarship was to show how the map is more than a skilfully constructed artefact with geographical outlines. Absorbing ideas from art history and literary criticism, he made us aware of what he liked to call the hidden agendas in these essentially social documents: ''silences'' that speak, signs and icons with subliminal messages; some of deliberate propaganda, most reflecting cultural values unacknowledged by either the mapmaker or his society. Maps, Harley emphasised, are more than passive mirrors of landscape and society; they are potent agents of governments and tools of propaganda.” (Excerpt from the obituary by Paul Laxton, in: The Independent, December 27th, 1991)
| May 2004 26 p., german |
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| how to order | ||
Brian Harley’s text is translated into german for the first time
with excerpts form:
Dennis Cosgrove, Mapping Meaning
