A journey to the end of the map. Destruction of cartography as a deconstruction – a pragmatic perspective

Abstract

The paper concerns the topic of maps, functioning of maps and concepts of maps in the wartime conditions on the example of polish sources on Second World War. My point of departure is Miron Białoszewski’s account, as contained in his short story Rajza, of his family’s escape towards the Eastern border in September 1939. The story introduces many motifs, which are present in Białoszewski’s other texts concerning the war, and which are interpreted in the context of other sources (mostly literary sources). Maps used during the war had a propagandistic character; they confused their readers, allies and enemies alike. A wartime period results in a constant need for maps, but also in a shortfall of cartographic representations. At the same time, an ever-changing reality exposes their worthlessness and, in the most extreme cases, reduces them to secondary raw material. War is an extraordinary state, in which the process of deconstruction of cartography is accelerated. In this way, the criteria of critical currents in the theory and history of cartography are fulfilled. However, this deconstruction brings about the appreciation of its pragmatic aspect: it is the reader who, in specific circumstances, can expose the rational mind behind cartography.