Understanding Non-Mappable Aspects of Narrative through Conceptual Modelling

1. The Text is not the Map Using Conceptual Modelling to Understand the Non-Mappable Aspects of Narrative Øyvind Eide Lehrstuhl für Digital Humanities Universität Passau http://www.phil.uni-passau.de/rehbein.html oyvind.eide@uni-passau.de

2. Outline Modelling of geographical descriptions: Schnitler Application on fiction: Robinson Crusoe Poetry and painting: Laokoon Semiotics and media modalities: Elleström The surreal landscape: Ishugoru

3. 1. Schnitler • Scandinavia, 1740’s • From overlapping tax areas to borders between states • Information gathering • Common people seen as a source to information based on their knowledge, not on their status interview aggregation map

4. The model and formalisation

5. Stepwise formalisation 8te Miile <spaceDistanceMileMountain>8</> 64 kilometres (0,0), (64000,0)

6. «Fall-off» What is lost in the process • Context • Vagueness • Under-specification • Negation • Disjunction • ... Making an inventory As map not onto map

7. Example 1 The landscape west of the settlers here is spruce and birch forest with mountains, and there are no neighbouring farmers, before 8 miles to the west Harran in the parish of Overhalden. A few Lap Finnes dwell in between, however.

8. ...there are no neighbouring farmers... There are ways to model it But map? Negation on maps possible for certain categories in certain scales

9. Example 2 3rd question: Answer: South of their settled farms is a 1/2 mile from there the farm Qvæljen, 1 mile the farm Leerbaken; the landscape in between there is spruce and birch forest with some mountain tops; In the area between the lake Frostviig and the lake Qvæ lies the 2 Qværn mountains under the farm Qvæljen; whose farmers, like the others in Northern Finlje lives from their meadows, fishing, shooting and often must stick to pine bread, as grain rarely grows there.

10. Maps

11. Underspecification: First map South: 180°, that is, straight south. Default width and length of a place polygon when no measurements are given: 4000∗6000 meters. Default distance in X and Y direction of something between something else, when distance is not given: 500∗200 meters. The length of a mile when type is not specified: 8000 meters.

12. Second map South: 160°, that is, straight south with a slight eastern bend; still, well within what must be accepted as south. Default width and length of a place polygon when no measurements are given: 1000∗500 meters. Default distance in X and Y direction of something between something else, when distance is not given: 1000∗2000 meters. The length of a mile when type is not specified: 6000 meters.

13. Inter-medial issues A B “[...] in North of there, there are no peasant farm.” “There are no More Finns Close to the Borders [...]” length(A,B)≠length(B,A)

14. Typology of textual expressions Fully specified textual descriptions Underspecification Ambiguity Negation Impossible figures

15. 2. Defoe Paratext: autobiography Alledged truthfulness, similar to Schnitler Still, it is fiction, with self-posing as truthful part of the fiction Goal of study: to test method, not to develop new knowledge about the novel

16. Scales of descriptions Larger (geographical) areas, e.g. the landscape between London and York. Smaller (local) areas, e.g. the garden a back yard, with bushes, lawn and furniture. Objects, e.g. the engravings on a knife.

17. Scales of descriptions Larger (geographical) areas: place name dropping Smaller (local) areas: description Objects: not discussed here

18. Geography building Establishing a place name system “A place-name, then, is a word, or word-complex, that within one particular community—no matter whether great or small, but of a certain stability—instantly evokes the idea of one particular place through an association of contiguity. (Olsen, 1928, p. 5)” Opens up for name dropping on island

19. Narrative and description Description through narrative Description outside the narrative “But now I come to a new Scene of my Life.” “It happened one day, about noon, going towards my boat, I was exceedingly surprised with the print of a man’s naked foot on the shore, which was very plain to be seen on the sand.”

20. 3. Lessing Laokoon (1766) Two rules: Actions in time should be applied in poetry, and bodies in space in painting. What is hidden is not seen in painting, while things hidden can still be seen in poetry.

21. Time, space and syntax “B is north east of A”

22. Time, space and syntax 2 + 2 = 4

23. Rule breaking Not natural laws Often broken; one of the ways literature creates its effects Schnitler: aim to provide information, discriptions numerous Defoe: aim to tell story, “follows” Lessing's rules ...except for one case

24. 4. Elleström Media modalities: • material modality • sensorial modality • spatiotemporal modality • semiotic modality Bottom up approach Using his system to classify maps, written texts, and oral text Generalisation of Lessing

25. Material modality Written text: demarcated materiality Oral text: less clearly demarcated materiality Map: demarcated materiality

26. Sensorial modality Written text: seeing Oral text: hearing Map: seeing

27. Spatiotemporal modality Space manifested in the material interface cognitive space (always present) virtual space Time manifested in the material interface perceptual time (always present) virtual time

28. Spatiotemporal modality Written text: Space manifested in the material interface, but... still virtual space Oral text: Time manifested in the material interface Map: Space manifested in the material interface TENSION

29. Semiotic modality Written text: convention (symbolic signs) Oral text: convention (symbolic signs) Map: convention (symbolic signs) resemblance (iconic signs) contiguity (indexical signs)

30. Breaking the rules Once: the long descriprion ending with “But now I come to a new Scene of my Life.” Why? Slow down, prepare: tempus feature Summarise, get ready for shift The print of a foot, prepared by a geographical description, is in the very spatial centre of the book. A signal By not breaking the rules elsewhere, this effect can be created

31. 5. Ishugoru The Unconsoled (1995), chapter 10 Preliminary study Spatial movement in a surreal world

32. A surreal world Why? First test: Study all movements in chapter 10 Semantics or pragmatics?

33. Surreal movements Hotel in city → road, long time → dining at country house Country house = hotel in city Possible interpretations: Travel in circle Transformation from one place to another Non-geometrical (non-real) space, e.g., The dining room is in two buildings at the same time Distances are not coherent But this is not mappable A B length(A,B)≠length(B,A)

34. Not mappable indeed. But... What can we say about what the text says? what the text is un-spoken? and what the text cannot speak?

35. Conclusion Different texts, different goals, different tools Underspecificed The landscape is created by the reader The text and the paratext gives cues Maps are reflexive, texts are not necessarily so

36. Texts and maps can express fundamentally different images of the world A map based on a text will always be an interpretation steered by the medium Thank you! http://www.oeide.no/