Friends in Space and Time

Radical Cartography: Friends in Space & Time

This animated map (linked above) by Bill Rankin provides an overview of the various places his friends and family have located themselves across the country and abroad from 1990 to 2003. He refers to this as “an exploration of middle class mobility.” It plots the progression of these people from high school, to college, and beyond. Although this is a very personal map that holds the most meaning for Rankin, we can apply a similar analysis to our own lives. I would find it very interesting to create a map such as this for my friends and relatives. Rankin’s concept makes my mind move in two directions.

The first is that this type of map represents the connections I have to many other parts of the country through the people I know residing in these regions. I have relatives that live in San Francisco, California; Sylvania, Ohio; and Manhattan, New York, to name a few. Even if I have never physically traveled to all of these places or live there myself, I feel that I know a little more about the world by living vicariously through my family and friends. Relationships can stretch far beyond any border; these can exceed all measures of space and time. I look forward to hearing all about the adventures of my friends who will be studying abroad this summer and next school year.

 One of my friends is studying in Nicosia, Cyprus this Summer, while another is traveling to Florence, Italy in the Fall.

My second train of thought heads towards Motivation Station. When we look at all the different places and directions we take in our lives, it is amazing to see how our goals and aspirations have motivated us to cross borders and explore other frontiers. Working class men and women are willing to relocate their entire families in order to take a higher paying or more personally rewarding position/job. Students are willing to move to a new city or state where they do not know anyone in order to accomplish their life goals, whether that means becoming a teacher, pharmacist, lawyer, engineer…the possibilities are endless. Even more amazing are foreign exchange students, who are forced to speak a different language and must attempt to assimilate to a brand new culture. Charles Eastman made a comparable adjustment when he transferred to the mission school in Nebraska. His transition could be seen as even more challenging than the one college students or relocating families must make. The choice he made meant leaving behind one lifestyle to conform to another. Eastman is a prime example of someone willing to cross borders of various categories (physical, racial, cultural) in order to challenge himself or herself and fulfill one’s aspirations. 

French Kissing and the Social Actions of Billy the Kid

            In this modern era, much thought is put into how one interacts with their peers, friends, colleagues, and family members.  There are a variety of branches of study that put this thought and consideration into scientific terms that define these socialization trends and interpersonal relationships.  However, this information is not always as complicated as these areas of study make them appear to be.  On radicalcartography.net, under the label of “defining a region” there is a map entitled “French kissing” that puts a French social phenomenon into a simpler perspective. 

            I thought this map was interesting for multiple reasons.  Obviously, one does not usually think of French greeting rituals and how they can relate to our modern lives, but for me, this map made me pause and consider the interactions that I’ve witnessed, not only in my own life, but in the novels we’ve read in this class.  In France alone, it is clear that there is a wide variation in the number of times one would kiss a friend when greeting them.  In terms of each region, this would determine not only how polite the kisser is, but also the level of friendship the two kissers have. To me, this variation in social greetings reminded me of Billy the Kid and his interactions with his male and female friends in The Collected Works of Billy the Kid.  In his small social circle, there were a wide variety of interactions.  We can assume that, as a result of his social interactions with Sallie Chisum, he eventually makes the impression on her of being “bad mixed in with good,” presumably due to his reputation as an outlaw, even though on page 53 in their first meeting, he is presented to her as “a good looking, clear-eyed boy” who when “I [Sallie] stretched out my hand automatically to him, he grasped it in a hand as small as my own”. 

Although Billy is presented as an outlaw (bad mixed in with good) he also followed by the social norm of a handshake to maintain the socially acceptable presence of being polite.  This distinction between being the polite and seemingly kind fellow that he is when he first meets Sallie and the fellow who has “bad mixed in with the good”, according to Sallie, shows that somewhere over the period of their friendship, she saw that his actions as an outlaw deviated from the social norm of politeness, and those actions counteracted the polite gesture he presented her at her first meeting.

In terms of both of these pieces of information, it is evident that the type of social interaction depends on the level of friendship between the two people.  In France, kissing is the equivalent of being a friend, and following the norms for kissing maintains that friendship.  However, in terms of Billy the Kid, even though the friendly norms of hand-shaking are followed the label of “outlaw” can cause the opinions of others to view you as less ‘good’, regardless of how polite you present yourself to be.

Perspective Changes our Perception of Reality

     An interesting concept that comes up when talking about borders is how many ways people are able to look at the same border. What is the correct way to view the many borders that we cross in life? Each person sees things differently than anyone else because each of us has a different perspective that changes our perception.

     The map I choose from Radical Cartography is entitled “How Big is Big?” The first map shows the planets in our solar system in order of their distance from the sun and is in scale of how large each is. This is a picture we have all seen before, in which the sun is so huge in comparison that the line that represents its circumference is almost straight. The gas giants are so big that they too are only represented by part of their circumference but the viewer gets an idea of the size because they can see the curve in the line drawn. To accompany this scale version I found a YouTube video that goes through the planets from the smallest in our solar system to the some of the largest stars we have cataloged. These scale models show us how large each planet is when we calculate its size. The problem is the reality is not really how we perceive these planets when we see them from earth.

     The second map is a map that shows the same planets but in the scale that we see them from earth. The great distances between us and each of these planets changes the reality of their size into how we perceive them. Is one of these ways of representing the planets better than the other? Furthermore, is one more real than the other?

     The idea that perception and reality can be extremely different is something that applies to all borders we cross in life. A physical border such as the one between the United States and Mexico can be perceived in many ways. For many it is simply a line on a map that separates two countries, but for the people closer to that “line” it can represent many things. Some people see it as the obstacle that stands between them and a better life. Others see it as a source of income. For the border patrol it is the thing that they must guard because it what keeps illegals out of our country.

     This notion that perspective changes perception does not only apply to physical borders, and a wonderful example of this is in the reading we did by Salman Rushdie. The poem about the Barbarians shows how people perceive the differences between themselves and others and how often being different has a negative connotation attached to it. This is a theme that is echoed in many things including the Disney movie “Pocahontas”. In the movie “Colors of the Wind” is a beautiful song that points out how a people’s perspectives really change how they see others and the world around them.

Sources: http://www.radicalcartography.net/index.html?planetsize

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1w8hKTJ2Co

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvvZ1TEQRB8

By Christina Groff