Rhetoric of narrative maps: Conceptualizations, categories, and working mechanisms

The Journal of Geo-information Science published an online article on groundbreaking research led by Professor Shiliang Su and PhD student Qianqian Li etc. (Urban Computing and Visualization Lab, School of Resource and Environmental Sciences, Wuhan University), recently. The research team, renowned for their contributions to cartographic theory, previously presented a theoretical framework for metaphor map design in their article, “Fundamental Theoretical Issues of Metaphorical Map”, published in the same journal. In their latest work, the team addresses the unresolved issue of narrative map rhetoric, proposing an innovative and systematic framework that addresses conceptualizations, categories, and working mechanisms, offering a substantial theoretical advancement for contemporary cartography.

Drawing on contemporary linguistic and visual rhetoric theories, the research conceptualizes narrative map representation as a distinct form of visual rhetoric. In this context, cartographers use certain visualization strategies to facilitate the representation of events, thereby weaving explicit narrative intentions into the mapping space in an implicit way to create persuasive discourse or emotional agreement for viewers. Based on this core idea, the study introduces a groundbreaking classification of narrative map rhetoric into two primary categories: semantic rhetoric and structural rhetoric. To further refine this distinction, the concepts of “studium” and “punctum” are introduced. A genealogical framework of narrative map rhetoric is also established, detailing the application and significance of 24 typical rhetoric, including metaphor, symbolism, personification, and parallelism , thereby providing a meta-theoretical and meta-linguistic foundation for the framework.

Regarding the operational mechanisms, the research thoroughly explores how rhetoric serves the narrative goals of a map from four aspects: the dimensions of rhetoric, the hierarchy of rhetoric, the integrated use of rhetoric, and the applicability principles of rhetoric. Finally, through a detailed case study of the “Jiangnan Canal”, the research demonstrates the practical effectiveness and applicability of the proposed framework, offering new theoretical support for narrative map design practices.

For more details, please refer to the original article:

Rhetoric of Narrative Maps: Conceptualizations, Categories, and Working Mechanisms. http://doi.org/10.12082/dqxxkx.2025.240589

https://www.sciengine.com/JGIS/doi/10.12082/dqxxkx.2025.240589（If you want to see the English version of the full text, please click on the “iFLYTEK Translation” in the article page.）