Challenging the digital cartographic continuity system: Lessons from cinema

Abstract

This paper begins with the idea developed by critical cartographers that maps materialise and fix lines, stabilising meanings and identity, as well as economic and political power. Cartographic power derives from the impression that there is a natural continuity between objects and phenomena in the world and their cartographic materialization. As argued in a first section of this chapter, this cartographic continuity has been recently reinforced with technological maps and more specifically with virtual globes, such as Google Earth, and their smooth zooming and navigating capabilities. In a second section we turn to cinema in which the continuity system of narration has been widely challenged over the years by alternative filming strategies such as jump cuts, direct address, or self-reflexive narratives. The review of these reflexive strategies in cinema makes clear that filmmakers have attempted to undermine the conventional framework of cinematic form, seeking to break free from both the dominant cinematographic continuity narrative and its political implications. Finally, we argue that this cinematographic experience could serve as sources of inspiration for cinematic reflexivity in cartography through the use of montage, sound and human presence.