ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the central theme of the book which is the idea of construction of space(s) in visual and material terms through the three modes of representation, namely landscape paintings, travel literature and cartography. The dominance of cartographic reason in the age of European Enlightenment framed the aesthetic and scientific modes of representations and imaginations. The purpose of this chapter is to assess the role of these cultural artefacts in materially forging imaginative and artificial spaces. Overtly carrying scientific truth claims, these cultural expressions when used by colonialism, become potent tools imbued with power relations. The book will explore and speak about the three media as spatial practices, which, before defining its colonies in spatial terms, have also helped congeal European nations like Great Britain as geographical units. Beginning with reconfiguring the domestic national space through a cartographic integration of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, this study thereby proceeds to corroborate colonialism’s expansive gaze overseas.
