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Chapter 4. Metaphorical maps in picturebooks

  • Bettina Kümmerling-Meibauer and Jörg Meibauer
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Maps and Mapping in Children's Literature
This chapter is in the book Maps and Mapping in Children's Literature

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the cognitive and narrative functions of metaphorical maps in picturebooks. In contrast to maps that present real or fictional city- and landscapes, metaphorical maps are used to visualize abstract concepts. In particular, two types of metaphorical maps in picturebooks are distinguished: maps of (existing) cities and countries that are shaped like animals and humans, and entities such as the heart and the brain that are structured like maps. In order to understand this map category, children have to develop a basic knowledge of the symbols and functions of maps in general, and to learn that metaphorical maps are imaginative guides which symbolize specific patterns of thinking.

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the cognitive and narrative functions of metaphorical maps in picturebooks. In contrast to maps that present real or fictional city- and landscapes, metaphorical maps are used to visualize abstract concepts. In particular, two types of metaphorical maps in picturebooks are distinguished: maps of (existing) cities and countries that are shaped like animals and humans, and entities such as the heart and the brain that are structured like maps. In order to understand this map category, children have to develop a basic knowledge of the symbols and functions of maps in general, and to learn that metaphorical maps are imaginative guides which symbolize specific patterns of thinking.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Table of figures vii
  4. Introduction. Maps and mapping in children’s literature 1
  5. Part 1. About mapping
  6. Chapter 1. A cognitive-developmental perspective on maps in children’s literature 17
  7. Chapter 2. Mapping the new citizen – Pedagogy of cartophobia 41
  8. Chapter 3. A subtle cartography 59
  9. Chapter 4. Metaphorical maps in picturebooks 75
  10. Part 2. Literary shaping of real cityscapes
  11. Chapter 5. Mapping a city – Berlin in a contemporary detective novel 95
  12. Chapter 6. “New York just like I pictured it – skyscrapers and everything”* 113
  13. Chapter 7. Itineraries and maps 129
  14. Chapter 8. Bruno Munari’s visual mapping of the city of Milan 147
  15. Part 3. Fictional seascapes and landscapes
  16. Chapter 9. “An island made of water quite surrounded by earth” 167
  17. Chapter 10. Connecting worlds 185
  18. Chapter 11. Mapping illusions 203
  19. Chapter 12. Mapping Middle Earth 221
  20. Chapter 13. Landscapes of growth, faith, and doubt 239
  21. About the editors and contributors 257
  22. Name index 263
  23. Subject index 265
https://doi.org/10.1075/clcc.7.05kum

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Table of figures vii
  4. Introduction. Maps and mapping in children’s literature 1
  5. Part 1. About mapping
  6. Chapter 1. A cognitive-developmental perspective on maps in children’s literature 17
  7. Chapter 2. Mapping the new citizen – Pedagogy of cartophobia 41
  8. Chapter 3. A subtle cartography 59
  9. Chapter 4. Metaphorical maps in picturebooks 75
  10. Part 2. Literary shaping of real cityscapes
  11. Chapter 5. Mapping a city – Berlin in a contemporary detective novel 95
  12. Chapter 6. “New York just like I pictured it – skyscrapers and everything”* 113
  13. Chapter 7. Itineraries and maps 129
  14. Chapter 8. Bruno Munari’s visual mapping of the city of Milan 147
  15. Part 3. Fictional seascapes and landscapes
  16. Chapter 9. “An island made of water quite surrounded by earth” 167
  17. Chapter 10. Connecting worlds 185
  18. Chapter 11. Mapping illusions 203
  19. Chapter 12. Mapping Middle Earth 221
  20. Chapter 13. Landscapes of growth, faith, and doubt 239
  21. About the editors and contributors 257
  22. Name index 263
  23. Subject index 265
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