The Shape of Texas: Maps As Metaphors

Rating:
Summary: The Map As Cultural Icon
Review: While this is not a book for everyone, those interested in either maps or popular iconography will find few if any its equal. It will appeal primarily to three groups of readers. The first is persons interested in maps and cartography, especially the role of the map in present day popular culture. The second group consists of Texans and others interested in Texana. The third are persons interested in the visual arts. (I belong to the first two of these.)

Richard Francaviglia is an associate professor of history and the director of the Center for Greater Southwestern Studies and the History of Cartography at the University of Texas at Arlington. He is a talented writer, skilled at presenting abstract subjects so that they are accessible to both his intellectual colleagues and to the intelligence lay reader. This book is evidence of that skill.

As a northerner transplanted to Texas, Francaviglia has been struck by the overwhelming presence of the outline map of the state of Texas in advertising, company logos, road signs, and other manifestations. As he notes in his introduction, "if Texas were a tribe located in an exotic part of the world, anthropologists probably would have seriously studied their peculiar use of the map by now. But as of this writing, no one else has described the phenomenon in this book."

This is not an understatement. If the reader doubts it when opening the book, he/she will not doubt it by the end. Francaviglia traces the rise of the use of the outline map in the 20th century and its supplanting of the Lone Star as the most common Texas icon. He catalogues the use of the outline map in ways which span the gamut from the mundane to the bizarre. He does not, however, treat this as a source of humor (though many things are very funny), but rather as something deeply revealing about Texas regional culture and character.

The book is well illustrated with 27 color plates and over 100 black and white photos and drawings. It is a tribute to Dr. Francaviglia's interests in the topic that he obtained financing from the Summerlee Foundation of Dallas to enable the inclusion of the color plates which would not normally be possible in a book of this price and specialized interest.

If you have an academic interest in any of the topics I have addressed, this book is a must. If you are a Texan, this book is a hoot. If you are both, read and enjoy. You are guaranteed to both learn and laugh out loud.