On the Borders of the Imaginary, “Erring” on the Side of Hope: Western Mapping, Exploration and the Jeffersonian Design
Christopher Columbus and James Cook both share similar features—one of them is to have failed to discover what made up the actual purpose of their quests; they did, however, “f[i]nd what they wanted to see,” as reflected in the writings and maps the two illustrious explorers handed over to posterity...
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| Idioma: | Anglais |
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Angles
2026
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| Accés en línia: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
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openedition-oai:revues.org:angles_12192 |
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openedition |
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OpenEdition Journal |
| language |
Anglais |
| format |
Article ou chapitre numérique |
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0/Bibliothèque numérique/ 1/Bibliothèque numérique/OpenEdition Journals/ |
| topic |
cartographie frontière Thomas Jefferson ouest américain exploration cartography Thomas Jefferson American West frontier exploration |
| spellingShingle |
cartographie frontière Thomas Jefferson ouest américain exploration cartography Thomas Jefferson American West frontier exploration Atem, Florent On the Borders of the Imaginary, “Erring” on the Side of Hope: Western Mapping, Exploration and the Jeffersonian Design |
| description |
Christopher Columbus and James Cook both share similar features—one of them is to have failed to discover what made up the actual purpose of their quests; they did, however, “f[i]nd what they wanted to see,” as reflected in the writings and maps the two illustrious explorers handed over to posterity. This assumption by Thomas P. Slaughter appears to also fully apply to Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, sent by Thomas Jefferson beyond the frontier, in search of the legendary Northwest Passage, a hypothetical transcontinental water route the control of which would promote the implementation of the expansionist design. While the enterprise itself—among other objectives—aimed at furthering cartographic knowledge, the prospect of exploration also required to be fully acquainted with the region to be traveled, ahead of the journey. Jefferson had succeeded in gathering precious data but the mental image still remained very much incomplete: his judgment was flawed with regard to the actual distances and hardships of the project, which might never have taken shape, had the fictitious map not temporarily supplanted the true reality of frontier geography. Challenged throughout the “wilderness” experience, the heralds of Jeffersonianism quickly measured the gap between the mental construct and actual daily life within an unconquerable natural environment that put the Western cartographers under heavy strain, even undermining their methodology. The travelers also took particular care in collecting the invaluable information provided by the Natives—whose perfect mastery of the territory had been granted to them by the thousands of years during which they had been occupying the place—only to find out that the Native American approach to cartography usually mirrors Indigenous thinking more than it helps deepen the “civilized” man’s understanding of the spatio-temporal framework he progresses in. In this respect, beside merely representing space, maps might also be construed as the subjective projection of the mind they spring from. |
| author |
Atem, Florent |
| author_facet |
Atem, Florent |
| author_sort |
Atem, Florent |
| title |
On the Borders of the Imaginary, “Erring” on the Side of Hope: Western Mapping, Exploration and the Jeffersonian Design |
| title_short |
On the Borders of the Imaginary, “Erring” on the Side of Hope: Western Mapping, Exploration and the Jeffersonian Design |
| title_full |
On the Borders of the Imaginary, “Erring” on the Side of Hope: Western Mapping, Exploration and the Jeffersonian Design |
| title_fullStr |
On the Borders of the Imaginary, “Erring” on the Side of Hope: Western Mapping, Exploration and the Jeffersonian Design |
| title_full_unstemmed |
On the Borders of the Imaginary, “Erring” on the Side of Hope: Western Mapping, Exploration and the Jeffersonian Design |
| title_sort |
on the borders of the imaginary, “erring” on the side of hope: western mapping, exploration and the jeffersonian design |
| publisher |
Angles |
| publishDate |
2026 |
| container_title |
URI:https://journals.openedition.org/angles |
| url |
https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://doi.org/10.4000/1630b https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://journals.openedition.org/angles/12192 |
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1877291726416117760 |
| spelling |
openedition-oai:revues.org:angles_12192 https://doi.org/10.4000/1630b urn:doi:10.4000/1630b en https://journals.openedition.org/angles/12192 2026-04-16T02:00:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess article info:eu-repo/semantics/article urn:handle:20.500.13089/1630b https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ On the Borders of the Imaginary, “Erring” on the Side of Hope: Western Mapping, Exploration and the Jeffersonian Design Angles Société des Anglicistes de l'Enseignement Supérieur info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/2274-2042 URI:https://journals.openedition.org/angles Atem, Florent cartographie frontière Thomas Jefferson ouest américain exploration cartography Thomas Jefferson American West frontier exploration Christopher Columbus and James Cook both share similar features—one of them is to have failed to discover what made up the actual purpose of their quests; they did, however, “f[i]nd what they wanted to see,” as reflected in the writings and maps the two illustrious explorers handed over to posterity. This assumption by Thomas P. Slaughter appears to also fully apply to Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, sent by Thomas Jefferson beyond the frontier, in search of the legendary Northwest Passage, a hypothetical transcontinental water route the control of which would promote the implementation of the expansionist design. While the enterprise itself—among other objectives—aimed at furthering cartographic knowledge, the prospect of exploration also required to be fully acquainted with the region to be traveled, ahead of the journey. Jefferson had succeeded in gathering precious data but the mental image still remained very much incomplete: his judgment was flawed with regard to the actual distances and hardships of the project, which might never have taken shape, had the fictitious map not temporarily supplanted the true reality of frontier geography. Challenged throughout the “wilderness” experience, the heralds of Jeffersonianism quickly measured the gap between the mental construct and actual daily life within an unconquerable natural environment that put the Western cartographers under heavy strain, even undermining their methodology. The travelers also took particular care in collecting the invaluable information provided by the Natives—whose perfect mastery of the territory had been granted to them by the thousands of years during which they had been occupying the place—only to find out that the Native American approach to cartography usually mirrors Indigenous thinking more than it helps deepen the “civilized” man’s understanding of the spatio-temporal framework he progresses in. In this respect, beside merely representing space, maps might also be construed as the subjective projection of the mind they spring from. Parmi leurs traits communs, Christophe Colomb et James Cook partagent celui de ne pas avoir découvert ce qui constituait l’objectif initial de leur quête ; ils ont néanmoins « trouvé ce qu’ils désiraient voir », ce que reflètent les traces écrites et les cartes léguées à la postérité par les illustres explorateurs. Cette hypothèse, avancée par Thomas P. Slaughter, semble également valoir pour Meriwether Lewis et William Clark, envoyés par Thomas Jefferson au-delà de la frontière, à la recherche du légendaire passage du Nord-Ouest, hypothétique voie fluviale transcontinentale dont la maîtrise favoriserait la mise en œuvre du dessein expansionniste. Si l’entreprise vise notamment à accroître les savoirs cartographiques, une connaissance précise des régions à explorer s’avère nécessaire en amont du voyage. Jefferson a pu rassembler de précieuses données mais les représentations sont encore largement lacunaires : il se trompe ainsi sur les distances et sur la difficulté réelle d’un projet qui n’aurait sans doute jamais pris forme si la carte fictive n’avait pas remplacé, le temps d’un instant, la réalité géographique aux confins de la frontière. À l’épreuve de la « wilderness », les hérauts du jeffersonianisme ne tardent pas à mesurer l’écart entre la construction mentale et le quotidien au sein d’un environnement indomptable qui met en difficulté les cartographes de l’Ouest, parfois jusque dans leur méthodologie. Les voyageurs s’évertuent aussi à recueillir les informations inestimables livrées par les autochtones, que les millénaires d’occupation des lieux ont transformés en maîtres du territoire, souvent pour découvrir que la cartographie amérindienne constitue avant tout le reflet de la pensée indigène, plus qu’elle ne permet à l’homme « civilisé » de mieux concevoir le cadre spatio-temporel dans lequel il évolue. À ce titre, outre la simple représentation d’un espace, les cartes traduiraient tout autant la projection de la subjectivité de l’esprit qui les produit. |