For this week’s blog post I looked at the 19th Century Caribbean Cholera Timemap. This map includes information about cholera outbreaks, hurricanes, tropical storms, and news articles in the Caribbean region from 1833-1872. There are two ways to view this information: one representation is a geographical map of the caribbean with bubbles indicating the various points of interest; the other representation is via a timeline which indicates the precise month and year of different events. More information about the events can be gleaned by clicking on the colored bubbles on both the timeline and the map.
This map is really useful to see the spatial and chronological order of events. The coloration of the indicator bubbles allows the reader to make draw insightful trends regarding the timing and location of cholera outbreaks and natural disasters. As Turnbull points out about maps, this map is very subjective. As said in the article we should be sure not to assume our interpretation to be the only interpretation. The makers of the map clearly seemed to think that tropical storms and hurricanes were the strongest, if not the only, causes of cholera outbreaks. This is a huge assumption as there is a lot of literature available linking several other reasons with cholera epidemics. Additionally, the makers of this map must have used some criteria to determine which natural disasters and which outbreaks were significant enough to make it on the map. The reasoning used to make this differentiation is very subjective and must be publicized so the reader can understand the criteria and inherent bias prevalent in the map. The news articles presented on the time line all seem to point to cholera as being mostly within the black community. This map seems to reflect a white researcher’s point of view and looks at events from a very narrow lens.
While the map does do a good job of revealing the chronological order of the the different outbreaks and natural disasters, it fails to present the local people’s viewpoint. The map gives the reader precise dates and locations but obscures the impact on the Caribbean people. In order to counter this, I can imagine an alternative map which also provides information that would provide the reader with a glimpse of the effect of cholera on the Caribbean people. Such pertinent information could include medical consequences as well as personal stories relaying the impact. Additionally, it would be interesting to see the impact of the natural disasters on peoples’ food supply and water because this information could provide additional insights about the relationship between the natural disasters and cholera outbreaks. Furthermore, this alternative map would include narratives from people of all backgrounds.
Overall, this map provides some interesting information presented in a way that enables geospatial visualization by the reader. However, I feel that this map is extremely subject and only looks at things from one perspective. Therefore, this map could be enhanced by incorporating information that would shine light on the local people’s view on disease and natural disaster.
Loved reading your take on this DH project! I did Caribbean Cholera map and had some trouble trying to understand whose perspective it was seen through. I also really liked your alternate map and suggestion of looking at things from all backgrounds. Just goes to show how manipulative maps can be!
Very thorough analysis! I did not take a look at the Caribbean Cholera map but your descriptions and details helped me analysis and piece together the information. I like how you compare the maps from two different perspectives.