ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that more attention should be paid to the elaboration and the results of the representation of Africa on maps because they have played a major role in shaping perceptions of the continent from the outside. It discusses how such representation and perception changed during three different periods, especially how they were internalized, rigidified, and reified by African elites and states. The case of African studies is compelling because Africa and Africans have suffered the most from the production of negative descriptions and images through the never-ending domination of foreign-produced materials. Africa is usually depicted as a continent that only began to write and to produce maps, and then only under foreign influence. Many parts of Africa had to wait until the late nineteenth century to appear systematically on maps and/or to adopt a unifying script.
