Bucci, Alessandro
2014.
Maps of the South-Pacific: how Britain invented Australia.
JOMEC Journal
6
, pp. 1-22.
10.18573/j.2014.10287
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Abstract
This study seeks to investigate an alternative view of land and of its cartographic representations. Such view sees land not as a priori given, but as available to be interpreted in relation to the subjective gaze of those who look at it and determine it as a social space. In particular, this study looks at the South-Pacific. The ‘discovery’ of the landmasses in that area is to be read in a typically European context, for it completes the vision of the world of those that had earlier ignored its existence. From this point of view, I have analyzed representations of Australia that show the evolution of how the rest of the world learnt to think about it. In particular, I have taken into account cartographic representations that show how the unknown lands of the South were turned into the fetished British possession of Australia. Looking at them is a useful way to develop considerations about the processes of appropriation of land by the British Empire.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Date Type: | Publication |
| Status: | Published |
| Subjects: | D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain D History General and Old World > DU Oceania (South Seas) G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GA Mathematical geography. Cartography J Political Science > JV Colonies and colonization. Emigration and immigration. International migration |
| Publisher: | Cardiff University Press |
| ISSN: | 2049-2340 |
| Date of First Compliant Deposit: | 11 July 2025 |
| Last Modified: | 11 Jul 2025 08:52 |
| URI: | https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/179729 |
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