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Sven Hedin's Discovery of Transhimalaya: Issues and Methods in Geography and Cartography at the Turn of the 20th Century
Type
fundamental research project
Start Date
01 October 2002
End Date
31 March 2004
Status
completed
Keywords
Human geography
history of geography
history of cartography
history of science
Tibet
colonial geography
Sven Hedin
British Survey of India
carto-controversy
Description
This project weaves together three topics: the cartography of Asia, the iconography that supports assumptions on the power of science, and the activities of Sven Hedin, the most prolific geographer of the 20th century. My primary goal is to survey the space that existed between a geographer's ego and the reality of a continent. Actors in this space are Tibet, Sven Hedin, scholarly societies, and the general public. My other objective is to situate Transhimalaya, an imaginary mountain range reported to be more impressive than Himalaya, and explore the profound connections between the mapping of Asia and modernity as scientists forged them during the Belle Époque. My assessment of the surveying of Tibet will contribute to the study of the epistemology of the mapping sciences.
Leader contributor(s)
Forêt, Philippe
Partner(s)
Institute of Cartography, ETH Zurich
Funder(s)
Topic(s)
Human geography
history of geography
history of cartography
history of science
Tibet
colonial geography
Sven Hedin
British Survey of India
carto-controversy
Method(s)
Archival research
analysis of visual records
Notes
SNF 1215-068210
Range
Institute/School
Range (De)
Institut/School
Principal
Philippe Forêt
Eprints ID
215249
Reference Number
68210
15 results
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PublicationThe mapping of the Silk Road by European-Chinese expeditions( 2004-05-13)I have been especially interested in scientific reports and travel accounts on "western China" (Gansu, Xinjiang, both Mongolias, and Tibet) because they provide fascinating examples of practices, which must be investigated within an interdisciplinary and transnational perspective. I will emphasize in this paper the pivotal role played by maps, photographs, paintings and sketches during the expeditions conducted in 1912 and 1949, and more especially by the Sino-Swedish expeditions of 1927-1935. My goal is to understand how the iconography they provided on the Silk Road has articulated the discourse held in the earth sciences between the two world wars. The interaction between the Silk Road and early 20th century technology and methodology yielded in the USA well-known theories about race, the environment, and the "pulse of Asia." But what do we know today on the European and Chinese geographers, geologists, meteorologists, archaeologists and paleontologists who worked together? What did they think about the political dimensions of their work? How were they able to bring together scholarship and visual representation? Did they believe in global warming or in the decline of the West? An examination of the maps and images they produced would help with the reconstruction of the intellectual history of the hard sciences at work on the Silk Road.Type: presentation
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PublicationType: book section
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PublicationThe Swedish conquest of Tibet : Sven Hedin's Moral Mapping of White Unexplored PatchesResearch report on the exploration and survey of Tibet conducted by the Swedish geographer Sven Hedin in 1906-1908, and on the controversial discovery he made of the Transhimalayan mountain rangeType: journal articleJournal: Himalayan Research Bulletin 17/1Volume: 1997Issue: 17-1
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PublicationLe regard géographique sur le paysage transhimalayen( 2003-10-13)Il s'agit d'examiner la production de connaissances sur la moitié occidentale de la Chine à une époque où la région est cartographiée dans son ensemble, où le thème du sacrifice consenti au nom de la science perd de sa popularité, et où les ambitions coloniales des puissances européennes s'assoupissent. Interpellés par un paysage d'une complexité toujours plus grande, les chercheurs des années 1900-1930 désirent orienter leur regard en fonction d'une problématique qui intégrerait tous les faits constatés et toutes les observations accumulées. Les résultats de leurs missions ont exercé beaucoup moins d'influence que l'orientation de leur interprétation, laquelle a trop facilement conduit à des jugements à l'emporte-pièce sur les activités d'un géographe ou un thème de recherche. À partir de la documentation exceptionnellement riche léguée par Sven Hedin sur ses deux dernières expéditions scientifiques, celle de 1906 à1908 au Transhimalaya et celle de 1927 à 1935 en Mongolie et au Xinjiang, je propose que nous retracions l'histoire parallèle d'un regard scientifique et de théories péremptoires et fragiles.Type: presentation
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PublicationClimate change in the Gobi desert : the embarrassing discovery of the Sino-Swedish expedition to Northwestern China (1927-1935)( 2005-08-30)Once upon a time, national glory and cartography were synonymous. Mapmakers then recorded the truth and celebrated progress and precision. Historians enthusiastically endorsed their king's political claims, while geographers produced knowledge that transcended cultural contingencies. Explanations took the forms of red and blue lines, dots and arrows, and universal symbols. There was no place for doubt, jargon, or an incoherent vision of the history of cartography, and certainly no need for theories on the political roles of mapping. This paper is about a topographical map and the theme its authors depicted but chose to not comment upon: "societal adaptability to changes in natural resources." Although they were not intended to, an empirical reading of this map made by the Sino-Swedish Expedition would reveal how cartography addressed several prob-lems of the 20th century, from science policy and geographic governance to the constraints of historicity.Type: presentation