ABSTRACT
What is it to know a place? A world? A country? A city? A neighborhood? Or a self? One partial answer is that we carry mental maps in our heads. On these maps are the paths we have traveled, the locations we have visited, the landmarks by which we orient ourselves. Other parts of a map are secondhand, sketched from information provided by teachers, friends, family, co-workers, and, of course, the media. One thing is always sure: the map is never the territory. There are gaps, additions, distortions; one thinks of the notice ‘there be monsters’ on medieval maps of the world. Emotions are at work in shaping our maps. Some places are vivid, gleaming with promise and aspiration. Others are dark and threatening – or off the map altogether.
