Home Literary Studies Chapter 6. “New York just like I pictured it – skyscrapers and everything”*
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Chapter 6. “New York just like I pictured it – skyscrapers and everything”*

  • Anna Katrina Gutierrez
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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

Maps of New York City, whether visual or verbal, evoke an abundance of scripts and schemas related to adolescent romance, adventure, and coming-of-age. Some of these are associated with iconic sights, for example, the Empire State Building and the ‘romantic rendezvous’ script. In these texts New York is a storyworld grounded on a map that exists outside of the narrative but is built from the blend of disparate New York schemas: those called upon by the focalizing characters and those held in the mind of the reader. In Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist (2006) and Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares (2010), the coming-of-age romance begins with a map, and the mapping of script onto storyworld is enriched by intertextual links with music, poetry, and literature. The intertextual meaning-making combined with the active blending of New York City schemas that occur in the background emphasize the complexity of intersubjective development.

Abstract

Maps of New York City, whether visual or verbal, evoke an abundance of scripts and schemas related to adolescent romance, adventure, and coming-of-age. Some of these are associated with iconic sights, for example, the Empire State Building and the ‘romantic rendezvous’ script. In these texts New York is a storyworld grounded on a map that exists outside of the narrative but is built from the blend of disparate New York schemas: those called upon by the focalizing characters and those held in the mind of the reader. In Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist (2006) and Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares (2010), the coming-of-age romance begins with a map, and the mapping of script onto storyworld is enriched by intertextual links with music, poetry, and literature. The intertextual meaning-making combined with the active blending of New York City schemas that occur in the background emphasize the complexity of intersubjective development.

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.7.07kat

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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