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shifts and migration, introduction of new (other) social and cultural groups, as well as
leading to mixed cultural, religious, ethnic groups and lifestyles in borderlands.
Appreciation of these differences, sense of uniqueness and perception of otherness, through
the territorialization, conditioned the creation of spatial images and eventually resulted in
regional identity.
4. Disseminating the political message of power and control
Maps are part of a general discourse of power [5]. Throughout history, as much as other
weapons, maps have been an intellectual weapon of imperialism and of territorial
pretensions of empires and states. In this imperial context, maps regularly supported the
direct execution of territorial power. The specific functions of maps in the exercise of power
range from global empire building to the preservation of the nation state and to the
assertion of local property rights. Maps with their hidden agendas and texts beyond the text,
speak political language. As George Orwell said that the “political language is…. designed
to make lies sound truthful…” (See [5]), scholars consider maps as politicized documents
with the ethical concerns [17,23].
In his most influential work on deconstructing the map, Harley [9] wrote about the
power/knowledge matrix and stated that especially where maps are ordered by government
it can be seen how they extend and reinforce the legal statutes, territorial imperatives and
values stemming from the exercise of political power. He also distinguished external power
when maps are linked to the centers of political power and when power is exerted on
cartography and with cartography from internal power that is expressed through the
political effects of maps in society drawn from the cartographic process (selection,
generalization, abstraction).
Following the selection of Venetian and Habsburg maps as well as map by Croatian
cartographer Vitezović, representing the borderlands is a very good example of these
relations. Venetian cartographic policy was primarily subordinated to the Republic's
political and administrative purposes. They have, generally, more information about
political or administrative divisions and contain much less of geographical inventory. This is
an example of direct dissemination of the political message of power and control over the
territory. Many of the conventional tools in map making were used in doing this; such as
deliberate or “unconscious” (but ideological) distortions and omissions (the “silence”, see
[9]) on the maps.
4.1. Opposing images as messages
The examples of Coronelli's map of Dalmatia of 1700 [19] and Alberghetti's map of Dalmatia
of 1732 [20] enable us to distinguish two different stages for approaching the Venetian
borderlands. Coronelli's map was still based mainly on the compilations, while Albeghetti's
is already based on field survey. However, apart from technical differences these maps
express the political message in the corresponding way. Coronelli, as the official Venetian
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