BOY IS BLUE AND WATER ON MAPS TOO:

cartography, colors, conventions and culture

Abstract

Abstract

Cartographers have not always used blue as conventional color for water bodies on maps. This standardization only happened in the 19th century due to advances in production techniques. Based on a discussion on the use of colors in cartography and culture, this text reflects on the signification and resignification of symbols in popular culture and maps. By using examples from the social network, the history of cartography and indigenous mapping, I argue that the understanding of colors is not a universal phenomenon or an unquestionable convention. The selection of colors cannot be separated from cultural values, though the canons of the discipline insist on the absolute validity of their norms that grant ontological security to map readers and users. The deconstruction of conventions aims to reflect more deeply on theoretical-methodological approaches to map use in geography education, the conception of symbols as relations between signified and signifier and the problems of Saussure’s semiology model that interprets cartography as a language rather than a form of expression. I suggest a broader debate in order to think about cartographic methodologies that are more inclusive and take into account diversity and culture in education.

Keywords

Conventional colors, Symbols in culture, Ontological security, Cartographic expression