In space we read time : on the history of civilization and geopolitics / Karl Schlögel ; translated by Gerrit Jackson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Schlögel, Karl.

Series:

Bard Graduate Center cultural histories of the material world

Cultural histories of the material world

Standardized Title:

Im Raume lesen wir die Zeit. English

Language:

English

German

Subjects (All):

Civilization, Modern--History.

Civilization, Modern.

History.

Geopolitics--History.

Geopolitics.

Geography--History.

Geography.

Space and time.

History--Philosophy.

Historiography--Philosophy.

Historiography.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xxiii, 496 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York City : Bard Graduate Center, [2016]

Summary:

"History is usually thought of as a tale of time, a string of events flowing in a particular chronological order. But as Karl Schlogel shows in this groundbreaking book, the where of history is just as important as the when. Schlogel relishes space the way a writer relishes a good story: on a quest for a type of history that takes full account of place, he explores everything from landscapes to cities, maps to railway timetables. Do you know the origin of the name 'Everest'? What can the layout of towns tell us about the American Dream? In Space We Read Time reveals this and much, much more. Here is both a model for thinking about history within physical space and a stimulating history of thought about space, as Schlogel reads historical periods and events within the context of their geographical location. Discussions range from the history of geography in France to what a town directory from 1930s Berlin can say about professional trades that have since disappeared. He takes a special interest in maps, which can serve many purposes--one poignant example being the German Jewish community's 1938 atlas of emigration, which showed the few remaining possibilities for escape. Other topics include Thomas Jefferson's map of the United States; the British survey of India; and the multiple cartographers with Woodrow Wilson at the Paris Peace Conference, where the aim was to redraw Europe's boundaries on the basis of ethnicity. Moving deftly from the Austro-Hungarian Empire to 9/11 and from Vermeer's paintings to the fall of the Berlin wall, this intriguing book presents history from a completely new perspective"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

The Return of Space

Alexander von Humboldt's Ship Navigation 3

Object Lesson I: The Fall of the Berlin Wall, 1989 8

Object Lesson II: Ground Zero, September 11, 2001 12

"Spatial Atrophy": The Disappearance of Space 17

Horror Vacui: The Terrors of Simultaneity 28

The German Case: Space as Obsession 32

Spatial Turn, At Last 39

Cyberia: New Space, New Geopolitics 49

Reading Maps

Times of the Map: The Cartographic Record of Time 56

What Maps Show: Knowledge and Human Interests 63

Language of Maps, Cartographic Languages 70

War and the Eye 80

Sarajevo: When Knowing the Terrain Is Essential for Survival 82

The Layout of the Ghetto of Kovno 88

Philo-Allas: Escape Routes 93

Arcades: Benjamin's Walk to the Bibliothèque nationale 97

Boundaries, Razor-Sharp and Otherwise 105

World Pictures, Map Images: Another Phenomenology of Spirit 115

Landscapes, Paradisiacal and Other 120

Portolan Charts: Putting Out to Sea, Sailing for New Shores 126

Discours du méridien: Descartes and Cassini 131

Jefferson's Map: The Matrix of American Democracy 140

Mapping an Empire: The Geographical Construction of India, 1765-1843 151

Maps, Monochrome: The Nation-State 160

Global Traffic: The Power of the Bourgeoisie 171

Jan Vermeer's The Geographer (1669) 179

Giving the World a Name 184

Sándor Radó: The Spy Who Loved Cartography 187

Mental Maps: San Francisco, "Home," the German East, etc. 199

The Strategist's Gesture: Scenes at the Map Table 204

The Flâneur: A Way of Moving, a Cognitive Register 215

The Work of the Eve

The Work of the Eye. Trusting Our Eyes. "In Space We Read Time" 222

Crime Scene: Dallas, Texas, November 22, 1963, 12:30 p.m. 227

The Sidewalk Pavement: Surfaces, Hieroglyphs 229

Landscapes, Reliefs 233

Hot Places. Cold Places 242

Reading Cities, City Maps 253

Houses, Floor Plans: Hotel Lux, the House on the Embankment, and Others 262

Proust Interiors 269

Berlin Address Books 275

Local Knowledge, Subversive 292

Railroad Timetables: Protocols of Civilization 297

The Fingerprint: Relief of the Body 307

Biography, Curriculum Vitae 310

Karl Baedeker's Handbook for Travelers, or The Construction of Central Europe 314

American Space: The Poetics of the Highway 321

Russian Space: An Essay in Hermeneutics 333

Europe, Diaphanous

Traveling Europe in Diaghilev's Footsteps 350

Topographies of Terror 369

Europe, a Graveyard 373

The Gate at Birkenau 384

Arrows: Changes of Place, Movement Images 390

Remapping Europe 399

Herodotus in Moscow, Benjamin in Los Angeles 411.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 437-488) and index of personal names.

ISBN:

9781941792087

1941792081

OCLC:

944087172

Publisher Number:

40026578782