Border regions maps as nationalistic propaganda workshops in school historical atlases: The case of south tyrol

摘要

© 2018 Pacini Editore. All rights reserved.One of the main research topics in the study of border regions is the complicated relations between competing nationalisms that developed during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in these regions within the multinational empires. A typical case of such Border Region is the territory nowadays known as the Autonomous Province of Bolzano/South Tyrol. As border regions are natural subjects of border changes and claims, there has been a long history of cartographic production created to strengthen or counterpoise nationalistic claims. Moreover, given the important role of school historical atlases in developing nationalistic narrations, it is not surprising that many maps included in these atlases are dedicated to border regions and display sophisticated propagandistic features. The purpose of this article is to analyze Border Region Maps in German and Italian school historical atlases, and demonstrate that, in the particular case of maps which depict South Tyrol, they have been real 'workshops' for cartographic propaganda.