Views on the globe

Jean-Marc Besse (1, 2)

1 GC - Géographie-cités
2 GC (UMR_8504) - Géographie-cités

The position which consists in observing the earth from above is very old in geography. Yet we should also add that this view from above has been identified in geography - from the very beginning, with the view of the map of the world or of the artificial globe. The map and the “artificial” globe are substitutes for a direct view of the “natural” globe, which is thought to be impossible to the human eye. The aerial view and the view of the map are therefore often confused. It is this ambiguity between the object (the earth) and its representation (the map or the globe) that I would like to discuss and illustrate here. I'll take three examples, chosen from different periods in the history of geography: I will focus 1) on the relationship between the aerial view and philosophical thought; 2) on the question of the geographical imagination; and 3) on the view from the airplane.

Mots clés: aerial view; cosmography; geographical imagination

Domaines: Géographie

Jean-Marc Besse. Views on the globe. The aerial view : spatial knowledges and spatial practices, Edimbourg, Architecture/History of Art, Feb 2007, Edimbourg, United Kingdom. ⟨halshs-00191981⟩