RISS 검색 - 국내학술지논문 상세보기

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다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Maps contain political and cultural discourses as well as locational information on human and physical elements. The world map revealing metageographies and the world views of a specific culture functions as one of the most important educational materials. The world map has played an essential role in projecting colonialism and sustaining the imperial legacy throughout modern European history. British children`s world picture atlases have had a massive impact on the geographical imaginations of children around the globe. Most of the ten world picture atlases published in S. Korea for children have adopted a euro-centric metageography using Mercator`s projection-based maps. That means there is a higher percentage of Europe in the content structure and distorted proportions of the size of world regions - enlarging the northernmost lands and diminishing tropical lands. Furthermore, children`s world picture atlases influenced by imperial eyes and ideas of developmentalism create illusions distorting the reality. They describe the culture and society of Europe and Great Britain in a positive way. By contrast, ‘Third World’ countries which are mostly located in tropical climate areas tend to be explained as being inferior and under-developed regions often explained within the context of Orientalism. These imperialistic lenses embedded in eurocentric maps - from children`s world atlases, official curriculum materials, school textbooks to geographical imaginations in the everyday life world- can prevent children from understanding the dynamically-changing world in a balanced way.