Spacious Translations

Is mapping a form of translation? Is translating a kind of mapping? The appeal of this analogy is great and not unfounded, but we need to better explore the reasons that intuitively might make it plausible. In the broadest possible sense, translation is a process of de- and recontextualisation of meaning, while a map is a form of organisation, regulation and representation of space. Therefore, for this analogy to work, the recontextualisation taking place with the translation process should have a spatial dimension, while the spatial organisation and representation taking place in mapping(s) should function at least as a semiotic recoding. This essay will develop and explore this hypothesis to see in what sense we might utilise this transdisciplinary and transmedial analogy