Deep map

Deep map

Deep map refers to an emerging practical method of intensive topographical exploration, popularised by author William Least Heat-Moon with his book PrairyErth: A Deep Map. (1991).

A deep map work most often takes the form of engaged documentary writing of literary quality; although it can equally well be done in long-form on radio. It does not preclude the combination of writing with photography and illustration. Its subject is a particular place, usually quite small and limited, and usually rural.

Some[who?] call the approach 'vertical travel writing', while others[who?] compare it to the eclectic approaches of 18th and early 19th century antiquarian topographers or to the psychogeographic excursions of the early Situationist International.

A deep map goes beyond simple landscape/history-based topographical writing – to include and interweave autobiography, archeology, stories, memories, folklore, traces, reportage, weather, interviews, natural history, science, and intuition. In its best form, the resulting work arrives at a subtle, multi-layered and 'deep' map of a small area of the earth.

In North America it is a method claimed by those interested in bioregionalism. The best known U.S. examples are Wallace Stegner's Wolf Willow (1962) and Heat-Moon's PrairyErth (1991).

In Great Britain, the method is used by those who use the terms 'spirit of place' and 'local distinctiveness'. BBC Radio 4 has recently undertaken several series of radio documentaries that are deep maps. These are inspired by the 'sense of place' work of the Common Ground organisation.

See also


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Deep Notch — View north into notch Elevation 1,900 feet (580 m) …   Wikipedia

  • Deep Creek Wilderness — IUCN Category Ib (Wilderness Area) …   Wikipedia

  • Deep Creek Hot Springs — Deep Creek Hot Springs …   Wikipedia

  • Deep Voll Brook — Deep Brook viewed from Union Street in Hawthorne Deep Voll Brook, also known as Deep Brook (USGS captioned name), is a tributary of Goffle Brook and part of the Passaic River watershed. The brook drains part of the eastern flank of First Watchung …   Wikipedia

  • Deep Fear — Developer(s) Sega Publisher(s) Sega …   Wikipedia

  • Deep Creek North Wilderness — IUCN Category Ib (Wilderness Area) …   Wikipedia

  • Deep Run Ponds Natural Area Preserve — Deep Run Ponds Natural Area Preserve …   Wikipedia

  • Deep-sea exploration — is the investigation of physical, chemical, and biological conditions on the sea bed, for scientific or commercial purposes. Deep sea exploration is considered as a relatively recent human activity compared to the other areas of geophysical… …   Wikipedia

  • Deep Creek (Appomattox River) — Deep Creek Origin Virginia Basin countries United States Deep Creek is a 30.1 mile long (48.4 km)[1] tributary of the Appomattox River in the U.S. state of Virginia. It rises in Nottoway County nort …   Wikipedia

  • Deep image compositing — is a recently emerged way of compositing and rendering digital images. In addition to the usual color and opacity channels a notion of depth is created. This allows multiple samples in the depth of the image to make up the final resulting color.… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”