2012 Mapping Stereotypes Calendar Editions
All 3 editions: European (black), Extras (white) and Ultimate Jumbo edition (gold) with all the maps combined in a single 24 months (2012-2013) piece!
Mapping Stereotypes
All 3 editions: European (black), Extras (white) and Ultimate Jumbo edition (gold) with all the maps combined in a single 24 months (2012-2013) piece!
i think you spellt hungarian wrongly….
@david, you spelled “spelled” incorrectly.
At Ole, @ is no official letter in English.
@ is NOT AN official letter in English
“NOT an”
Thanks for noticing, David! Corrected!
In The United of America and The World of Dictatorships, “nucular” should be spelled “nuclear”.
There were 4 (four) US presidents which insisted on “nucular”. It’s not a mistake on the map, it’s a mistake of their own illiteracy and of the illiteracy of a significant part of the US population. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nucular
I wouldn’t necessarily put it to just illiteracy; the pronunciation of “nuclear” as “nucular” has a lot to with the Southeastern U.S. accent.
Of course, Jimmy Carter’s was genuine. As was Clinton’s. Bush, though? Phony.
Even Homer Simposn knows how to pronounce it. ;-)
ahahah, Homer Simpson is fantastic! Anyway, alphadesigner, congratulations for the infographics!
Southeastern US? Isn’t that a place with one of the highest illiteracy rates in the country? I find it hard to believe the word itself morphed after its adoption. What is far more likely is that people learned it wrongly and then there came politicians which wanted to sound like common people in order to be elected… and then, like everything else, common sense goes to hell. ;)
I’m not even going to bother with your spelling. @alphadesigner, you’re awesome!!
That’s very kind of you, thanks! :)
@Pez, isn’t “nucular” a play on how some (not all) Americans pronounce “nuclear”?
According to sociological data, the average height of Ukrainian men is 175,3 cm, of women – 163,7 cm. Great maps! Looking forward to more!! :)
I’m Swiss, and we really don’t see Europe like you describe in your card… we have not these stereotypes but really others…
(sorry for my not perfect english..)
Well, make a map with your versions and let’s see which one is the funniest. :)
okay I try it ;-)
Well, this reaction shows that you can use the stereotype: ‘the Swiss do not have any sense of humour in your other maps’ :-) Great job, thanks, from a swiss fan
It’s not a question of humour, it’s “just” a question of reallity
Pedantic even in humor, like a true Swiss! ;)
Absolutely brilliant!!! Found you via a link on our forum. x
Why are there no maps according to various African countries Mr. Ysvetkov?
Because Madonna refuses to let me interview her children on the matter.
Your inability to interview Madonna’s Malawian children must pose quite a dilemma for you. Poor you. Why don’t you interview a few people from each of the 52 African nations? Why deliberately exclude them from your mapping stereotypes project? Too much effort, perhaps?
Dear Chloe, there is a difference between my project and an UN inquiry and you, for some very strange reason, didn’t grasp it. I tried to hint that to you with the joke in my previous comment but you seem strangely immune to humor. I don’t go around interviewing people in Europe, in America, in Africa or anywhere else. That’s not how satire is done.
For your information, to say that I “deliberately” excluded a group of countries would mean that I made maps according to every other country on the planet. And that’s not the case, I don’t know how well you can count but I’m not even close to 30. The entire South America is missing, from North America there are Canada and Mexico missing, the entire Asia is missing (that’s Japan, China, India, etc. – I believe more than a half of the world’s population lives there). Australia and New Zealand are also missing, along with every other country in Oceania. Do you even know geography to begin with?
The truly sad thing is that in reality, there is something else at the center of this project you weren’t able to understand. And it’s the scary part.
This project is called “Mapping Stereotypes”. It makes FUN of the bigoted, prejudiced generalizations that people have against other people or lands. Now just in case let me elaborate: If there is a label saying “Fucking Desert, Dude!” you should laugh at the nation that put the label there and not at the actual people who inhabit the land. What is ridiculed is the ignorance of an idiot, to whom the whole Northern Africa is simply a desert. Why? Because it isn’t and because that region is the place where one of the most ancient civilizations built structures that survive even to this day.
This project is supposed to make you realize how useless and pointless the indulgence in stereotypes can be. But instead, you perceive the inclusion of a national point of view here as some sort of elitist endorsement and this is when I stand in awe because never in my entire life have I ever imagined that something I did may be a) grossly misunderstood and b) so twisted as to become its absolute, disgusting opposite.
Because if you think including any country here will be an honor or any kind of recognition… well, that’s just plain stupid.
Thanks for your heartfelt email. Glad you took the time. Please note that I got the ‘humor’ in your previous post. “Madonna refuses to let me interview her children……” Seriously, that line made me titter. Permit me to correct you on a number of assumptions you made about me. Firstly, I’m well aware of the definition of the word satire (and irony, which is a potent element of your work). Secondly, I’m very familiar with geography. You’re just going to have to take my word on that one. Lastly, but by no means least, I’m well aware that your maps are created to highlight the noxious and chronic ignorance (and utter belief in their own cultural superiority), that a sizable number of people on this planet hold close. My point, which in hindsight I didn’t make explicit, is that this ignorance touches every corner of the globe and I guess I didn’t understand why the African continent, (amongst many others) were not part of this project. It’s obvious for most (though sadly, not all) that your work shines a blinding light on the legion of idiots we share this planet with. Unfortunately, stupidity and ignorance appear to be universal human traits and Africa’s varied perceptions of ‘others’ was conspicuous by their absence.
When I suggested you speak to indigenes from various African nations, my tongue was wedged firmly in my cheek. I was being facetious. I assumed that you had ‘deliberately’ (that word was emphasised in your post, so it would be churlish of me to drop it now) excluded the continent from your work, because you weren’t aware of some of the deeply held prejudices that various African cultures hold about other races/countries. I have a personally held belief that most Westerners know next to nothing about Africa; which I suppose you highlight to great effect with “Fucking Desert, Dude!” and “AIDS”.
By the way, my country appeared in quite a number of your maps, so I wasn’t hankering for inclusion. My compatriots and I are pretty disillusioned with the current state of play, so I found the observations of the place pretty spot-on.
I’m glad we cleared the misunderstandings a little bit. I am aware that prejudice is universal. I have been to Africa many times, my father spent 17 years of his life there as well. Two of my projects presented on this site are inspired by African art. There is not a single specific reason why I didn’t map African prejudices, just like Asian, Canadian or Australian prejudices they are a bit more distant to me and my personal experience with Africa further strangles any desire for any kind of humor. I’ve seen inexplicable poverty, so profound that no European or American can ever imagine, unless he goes there in the middle of the jungle and sees it. I’ve also seen extreme exploitation of human beings – caused both by Westerners and local governments. This injustice has left such a deep scar in my psyche that I cannot approach it even with irony, not to mention satire. How would I label Europe if I was an African? Robbers, genocidal bastards, vampires, arrogant colonialists… none of these things would actually make anybody laugh. None of these things would make anyone even think “Oh wait, this is not really true!”
Because it is true. And it is sad. And it deserves to be told in a very different way and that’s exactly what I believe I am doing when I map European or American prejudices on the African continent. Yesterday I saw on Spanish TV a report about a girl who couldn’t eat. She could swallow food but she would vomit it 5 minutes later. All I was thinking was bitch, whatever medical problem you have, go to fucking Somalia and vomit there. And maybe when you see a child looking at your vomit as if it was food, your stupid consumerist heart will finally break.
This is my map of Africa.
Yes, a world map according to Nigerians would be good, after all Nigerians know it all, and if you ever meet a Nigerian [over 30 yrs old] without at least 1 masters degree, well he/she must be Ghanaian!!
if you need any input.. please drop me a line..
Great!!!! You need the ACTA world 2012 map !!!!!
;)
You should make an norwegian version:)
I’m working on it! Coming soon! :)
Shouldn’t take you long!
Just put “Expencive” on Norway and “Cheap” everywhere else.
Absolutely Hilarious. Pretty spot on if you ask me.
My only objection to your project is that Americans do not have nearly the level of competence with geography as suggested by your accurately drawn borders. Otherwise, sublime. I will be sharing with my students.
Would you please do a historians’ map? We have never gotten over the Fall of Rome. Berlusconi is SUCH a disappointment, although his sexual tastes do seem in line with most of the emperors.
Funny, as with most political maps, I believe that your Arab Spring is out-of-date.
It’s true I put American competence on steroids but I have to make a complete map with labels after all. If I stick to reality, I just have to leave the mainland US floating in the nothingness. ;)
Yep, the Arab Spring is out-of-date and there’s a sequel called the Arab Winter, I will add it in the coming days. I have thought about historical maps and I’m experimenting with some ideas at the moment but nothing looks certain at this point.
like the maps and like that you and chloe discussed that thro – thanks.
One word……. GENIUS!!!!!!!
I want and Aussie map! should be easy – land of skewed perspectives…. ;-)
- want suggestions?
Cheers
Bernhard
It would be nice to do a romanian map as well. If you need some help, i would be more than happy to jump in, since i’m a political scientist and know a thing or two about stereotypes. Anyway, congratulations!
Brilliant! As someone once told me, “stereotypes save time.”
Thanks! They do save time… initially. Then they waste twice as much as they have previously saved. ;)
Brilliant! :))))
Admirations!!! Just a little idea, an essential point of view missing – a Macedonian one :) That will be really fun :))
A while back I took a bunch of tough London kids to Scotland and just as we drove to the border I said: “Oh god – so sorry …forgot to remind you to bring passports!’ All but one swore and assumed we’d have to return to London. That was the beginning of a great conversation – which your maps (had I had them at the time) would have spread a brilliant light on!
Oh just so smile-making and a delight.
Keep ‘em coming.
LOL! I should try it here on the border with Portugal to see what happens. Thanks, sue!
Seeing the all-too-familiar comments suggesting how an artist should best use their talents, I just wanted to reach out to you and say hey, good job man. You don’t need my advice as you already know that the only way to respond to “You should…” is to say “No, YOU should…”
Thank you, Usagi! :)
You definitelly got the “European male height” mape wrong about Serbia. Serbs are quite hight, just think about basketball and volleyball, and why are they so good… They are among the highest, and the Montenegrins are popularly known as the highest people in the world. I am 1.83 m hight, and I was among the smallest male when walking in Belgrade´s streets (Belgrade is the capital of Serbia). Just google “Serbia average height” and you´ll see the results and the many threads talking of how hight Serbs are.
I’m not a fan of any sports. I took the data from Wikipedia. Any complaints should be directed to Jimmy Wales. It’s about time somebody puts him in jail for his numerous offenses to knowledge!
This is great, but I was really disappointed when for Croatia says NO DATA because we are not that kind of ”hill-billies” that serbs and bosnians and bulgaria(…..) are… But for sure, there is criminal and scams everywhere but we certainly arent some village… but ok they are STEREOTYPES… you could have used something for nazi and racist that is true :)
Cheers! :)
I’m sorry for the disappointment, I’ll keep it in mind for future maps. :)
Hi! I am writing a paper on perceptions. I was wondering how and if I could get permission to use one of your drawings as a JPG for a figure in my thesis.
Thanks!
It’s not that I want to sound unhelpful but this project is a work of satire, not a scientific statistical infographic. The last place I would want to see it is in a serious thesis about perceptions. I hope you understand.
Where is According to China and According to North Korea?
They were allegedly stolen from the Louvre by the late Kim Jong-il. Since his death I have no specific information regarding their whereabouts.
As an American, your American views of the world are, unfortunately, spot on. And the Berlusconi map is just awesome. You’re my hero for capturing the ignorance of the world and displaying it through satire. Bravo, sir. How much travelling/world experience did you acquire to accurately portray all these stereotypes?