I know that I’ve worked with Voltaire’s Candide in other assignments. Even so, I felt compelled to investigate Candide with a StoryMap since, like most picaresque novels, its plot unfolds in a chaotic number of places. Seeing the events of the narrative represented on a map interested me!
The novel makes peculiar use of a technique that mixes the real world with the mythic world. This is best exemplified through the events at El Dorado– the mythical golden city of infinite riches. Of course, this prompted the question: where could I map a mythical city? After some short research, I learned that the city was once believed to be in Colombia– so, I went with that! Besides this, mapping the plot brought out a few more issues. Certainly, pivotal points in the text take place in famous cities like Paris and Buenos Aires, however, the specificity ends there, which made it difficult to locate specific points on the map. Evidently, the novel doesn’t exactly compliment — to an acute and productive degree– analysis based on mapping techniques.
In essence, mapping significant plot points of the narrative is a form of visualization. Johanna Drucker calls to attention a number of significant developments in the nature of the use of graphic displays for topics in the humanities. In her article, she argues that schools of the humanities need to reevaluate how they make use of visualization graphics. She points out, “The digital humanities can no longer afford to take its tools and methods from disciplines whose fundamental epistemological assumptions are at odds with humanistic method.” According to her, to a certain degree, the process of visualizing research in the humanities fundamentally opposes the ideological premise of humanities research, where most discourse is subjective, and not objective enough to be visually displayed.
In her discussion on visualizing space, she emphasizes the inherent ambiguity in “mapping temporal experiences.” Obviously, Candide is a fixed text; fundamentally, the events of the plot and the literal words of the text do not change. However, reading a text like Candide, arguably, is a temporal experience. Reading is a unique and individual process. Therefore, the interpretation of space in the novel is subjective. Where is El Dorado? Where in Paris does Candide dine with the Abbot? What inn in Lisbon does he stay at? Probably, these are unproductive and insignificant questions. Yet, the point here still stands. The subjectivity, or, the ambiguity, makes visually mapping Candide slightly unavailing. Certainly, doing such gives a good sense of the plot and movement of location. However, the benefit is mostly minimal. I believe that Drucker hints at an idea like this.
I must admit! I certainly had fun! The illustrations I found for Candide are particularly interesting, I think!
Link to StoryMaps project: https://arcg.is/0uTqav0