Mapping Stereotypes

This is a satirical project, not sociological research, so I'm afraid your question will stay unanswered with or without a Norwegian map.

I knew Lars von Trier was just a regular Dane! :) Don't lose hope, the project is not finished, so one day even a Danish map may appear. ;)

Hi Stef! Thanks a lot! :)

Great. So are Bulgaria and Romania but this map is not about separate countries, it's about ridiculous ignorant people who don't give a damn about it. :)

Thank you! "Big nosed" = "with a big nose". ;)

I'm sorry to disappoint you but my project predates David Cerny's exhibition. On another note, stereotype maps are not a modern invention at all, the earliest I've seen are a century and a half old, so any claim of originality, mine or Cerny's, is utterly ridiculous.

The Guardian articles says: "Tsvetkov has lived all over Europe, but back in 2009 when he got the idea to produce maps charting prevailing stereotypes, he was still in his native Bulgaria." Cerny's work has been made public on 12 January 2009 and got a lot of publicity, which seems to be pretty in the beginning of 2009. But I don't care. I'm just saying.

My work was also published on 12 of January 2009: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alphadesigner/319205... Coincidence? :)

My apologies. If you can please delete my original comment (as only the first one is visible unless one clicks on it). And as I said before, I think your work is hillarious (because it's mostly true) :)

I live in Nigeria from time to time (being European though and I don't work in the oil business). Agreed, a Nigerian world view map would be interesting.

Thank you! You know sometimes we all do silly things and then people continue to make fun of us long after they happen. I guess the moral story is that banning popular Internet sites is a very bad PR move. :) The map with the label was made in 2009 and I don't update my maps once they are made. I usually include a note in small print with the year of publication but not on all of the maps. Maybe it will be a good idea if I include the year in the title itself. I'll think about it.

In most cases I think it's just a matter of humility. Simplified complexity is actually an oxymoron. Only simple things can be simple, the complex ones have to be approached with the attention they deserve, not reduced to something that is easy to grasp but deceptively incomplete. For example if you ask someone how does he feel and he replies "pretty well" but then for some reason you want to simplify his answer, removing "pretty" will leave only "well", which kind of resembles the truth but not completely. However if you decide to remove "well", things change dramatically and the whole meaning goes to hell. When it comes to ideas, the parts of an entity don't always complement each other. Nations are far too complex to be described with a label, even for a limited period of time, so we can spare ourselves the actual "breaking of the rules" and just try not to resort to simplifications in the first place. And to get to this point, one needs to be humble.

Do you personally believe that there can exists a world without stereotypes ?

Beliefs are intentions. They cannot prove or disprove anything, they just hang in the air waiting for an argument to swipe them in a random direction. Just because somebody cannot "believe" in a world without prejudice, doesn't mean a) that such a world is impossible and b) that this world doesn't deserve to be an objective, idealistic as it may appear. There are many things in the past that seemed like impossible ideals, too. Having a black US president was an ideal. The right for gay people to marry was an ideal and still is in some countries. Women's right to vote was an ideal. Believing is not necessary. Action is.

I personally think this argument has turned to a fallacious point and can’t see its additive appeal to Tsvetan's initial comment/question/argument (Which I had found rather correct and grounded). But for conversation sake: I doubt human nature can ever successfully peal itself from being judgmental since categorization is an essential human capability which enables us to simplify, predict, understand and eventually deal with our current conditions. One may argue on how such classifications can be mingled with prejudice in an intransitive sense… But all in all; it is something that we do, have done and in fact managed to survive various conditions due to it. Once in a while though I find it necessary for individuals such as you to point out what such management of our adaptations to our current conditions has brought in consequence. Looking at the maps I see that we are in a pretty comical state. That said: Stereotyping tends to get disturbing ONLY if they lack compliments. I find it rather odd that (For instance) many Africans gloat with the stereotype of big penises but have little tolerance to any other simplifications about themselves... As if one is stereotyping and the other not (Though both are pretty much of same function: Setting bias). Guess most forget whilst browsing through that your maps tell more about those that stereotype others than the latter. Once again: compliments to your works…

Looking at the maps, you can see other things as well, like the fact that I, their author, am still alive, nobody has arrested me, put me in jail or burned me alive. :) 500 years ago, when for most people the word "world" meant "my village and the fields around it", this project would have been unthinkable. This is why for me it's hard to accept an attitude to a problem, in which the only effective solution is perpetual damage management. I mean no disrespect though, either to Tsvetan or you. I'm more than honored to hear your opinions.