Quelle est la raison des cartes ?

This book begins with a seemingly simple question: why are there maps (rather than nothing)? We don’t systematically use maps to get around in space, preferring to ask a passer-by for directions, or consult our smartphone…

So what’s so special about maps, when it comes to spatial orientation, for example? What specific value do we place on them? Maps aren’t just practical tools for getting from one place to another (and not all maps do this). There are all kinds of maps, not just topographical ones. While, of course, maps produce knowledge about the world, we can also observe the active presence of other motivations, which sometimes outweigh the merely cognitive dimension: maps respond to political, poetic or even biographical intentions, for example. The aim of this book is to highlight the various “reasons” for and in maps, in other words, to analyze the various rationalities present and at work within cartography.