A Delta of Time

In the early modern Low Countries, narrative cartography was a thriving new medium aimed at disseminating information about events concerning the Dutch Revolt. News maps combined spatial and narrative information in order to tell the story of a recent event to a large audience, representing actions...

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Main Author: Anne-Rieke van Schaik
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: openjournals.nl 2023-12-01
Series:Early Modern Low Countries
Subjects:
Online Access:https://emlc-journal.org/article/view/18374
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author Anne-Rieke van Schaik
author_facet Anne-Rieke van Schaik
author_sort Anne-Rieke van Schaik
collection DOAJ
description In the early modern Low Countries, narrative cartography was a thriving new medium aimed at disseminating information about events concerning the Dutch Revolt. News maps combined spatial and narrative information in order to tell the story of a recent event to a large audience, representing actions, moments, and (spatial) change. They were in essence temporal products. To keep the maps topical, map publishers released new map states by modifying their copperplates and adding the latest news, sometimes multiple times. This article analyses the ‘updated’ map series by the Amsterdam publisher Claes Jansz Visscher that reported on events in the Scheldt river area between Bergen op Zoom and Antwerp (such as the 1631 Battle of the Slaak). The central question is how and why Visscher incorporated temporal information into his news maps. First, it shows the tools and strategies how Visscher, in comparison to other Northern and Southern Netherlandish news map publishers, added temporal information to his maps. Then, the rhythm of mapping and the map narratives are put in the context of real-time events and news culture, and the circulation and use of the maps are interpreted in the context of memory culture and historical consciousness. The article shows how news maps imply specific narratives of events and invite contemporary and later users to engage with and ‘navigate’ the past, present, and future in ways that transcend the limiting idea of time as a linear progress.
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spelling doaj.art-c566af53bc894a0491e608fbbe7b759d2024-02-02T09:49:17Zengopenjournals.nlEarly Modern Low Countries2543-15872023-12-017210.51750/emlc18374A Delta of TimeAnne-Rieke van Schaik0University of Amsterdam In the early modern Low Countries, narrative cartography was a thriving new medium aimed at disseminating information about events concerning the Dutch Revolt. News maps combined spatial and narrative information in order to tell the story of a recent event to a large audience, representing actions, moments, and (spatial) change. They were in essence temporal products. To keep the maps topical, map publishers released new map states by modifying their copperplates and adding the latest news, sometimes multiple times. This article analyses the ‘updated’ map series by the Amsterdam publisher Claes Jansz Visscher that reported on events in the Scheldt river area between Bergen op Zoom and Antwerp (such as the 1631 Battle of the Slaak). The central question is how and why Visscher incorporated temporal information into his news maps. First, it shows the tools and strategies how Visscher, in comparison to other Northern and Southern Netherlandish news map publishers, added temporal information to his maps. Then, the rhythm of mapping and the map narratives are put in the context of real-time events and news culture, and the circulation and use of the maps are interpreted in the context of memory culture and historical consciousness. The article shows how news maps imply specific narratives of events and invite contemporary and later users to engage with and ‘navigate’ the past, present, and future in ways that transcend the limiting idea of time as a linear progress. https://emlc-journal.org/article/view/18374cartographystory mapsDutch RevolttemporalityClaes Jansz Visscher
spellingShingle Anne-Rieke van Schaik
A Delta of Time
Early Modern Low Countries
cartography
story maps
Dutch Revolt
temporality
Claes Jansz Visscher
title A Delta of Time
title_full A Delta of Time
title_fullStr A Delta of Time
title_full_unstemmed A Delta of Time
title_short A Delta of Time
title_sort delta of time
topic cartography
story maps
Dutch Revolt
temporality
Claes Jansz Visscher
url https://emlc-journal.org/article/view/18374
work_keys_str_mv AT anneriekevanschaik adeltaoftime
AT anneriekevanschaik deltaoftime