Longitudinal Antarctica: A Continent in the Abstract

• Published in: Cartographica: The International Journal for Geographic Information and Geovisualization
• Main Author: Myers, Nicholas
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: University of Toronto Press Inc. (UTPress) 2016
• Subjects: Earth-Surface Processes; Antarc*; Antarctic; Antarctica
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.3138/cart.51.1.3182; https://utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/cart.51.1.3182

The history of the Antarctic is one of hypothesis and abstraction. Aristotle and James Cook, both prominent figures in Antarctic historiography, never laid eyes on the continent. Despite further exploration and accurate mapping of the continent during the “Heroic Age” of the early twentieth century, competing territorial claims continued to render Antarctica in the abstract. The continent became a space of contested ideology, serving as a canvas for both nationalist pride and imperial might.