In metaphorical terms, these narrative maps resonate with the mechanistic structure of the narrative: the points and lines resembling pulleys and belts. The stories then unfold between anchoring points and movements are provided by the connections between them. This first attempt to map narratives can have multiple applications to help map and characterize a wide variety of stories. It can be used in different domains such as literary maps, as well as to convey personal stories, including to the mapping of vernacular knowledge. In order to adapt the prototype presented in this paper to broader narratives, certain technical elements of this application will have to be improved. For instance, at the moment places have been aggregated spatially at the scale of towns and cities, while the original data is often available at a finer scale (e.g. neighbourhood). It would be meaningful to keep the original scale and to aggregate points and lines visually depending on the scale of visualisation in order to better represent the original level of detail. Finally, it will be important to improve the capacity to capture and represent the complexity of narrative elements. Narratives provide a much richer perspective on place than what has been portrayed here, as they involve multifaceted elements that can be associated with places such as emotions and memories. At the moment we don't really know how best to transform these highly subjective elements into meaningful data and then into appropriate maps. This process will require more in depth study on the different dimensions that are associated with places through narratives. The development of an ontology of fictional places could serve as a base to further explore spatial narratives. This approach could serve to provide more sophisticated categories of spatial objects that will then require much more complex forms of representation. The cartographic application presented in this paper is only the first step in this direction.
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