“媒介”视角下的地图知识生产:以开放街道地图为例

The Production of Map Knowledge from a“Media”Perspective:A Case Study of the OpenStreetMap

以协作性地图生产项目“开放街道地图”(OSM)为研究案例,本文在继承批判制图学的传统基础上,结合使用“传播型构”与“实践共同体”的理论视角,通过虚拟民族志与访谈的方法,系统考察了OSM中国制图社区,旨在揭示媒介在地图知识生产中扮演的角色。研究发现:围绕OSM的地图知识生产所形成的媒介组合包括制图核心层、制图交流层、制图补偿层等三个层次,制图者在其中展开各种媒介实践,即基于iD编辑器与GPS设备的地图绘制、基于站内外交流平台的制图协商、对技术补丁的开发、对站外其他技术的挪用。在此过程中,看似民主的制图作业实乃个体经验、地方知识、社区规范、科学话语、国家权力、身份认同与媒介组合等因素共同作用之产物。作为一次将媒介化理论与经验研究相结合的尝试,本文以“媒介组合”为线索勾连各种媒介实践,力图勾勒围绕地图知识生产的传播型构面貌。

Taking OSM–a collaborative project of map production – as a case, and following the academic tradition of critical cartography, this article applies the two theoretical perspectives of “communicative figuration” and “community of practice” to the empirical data collected from the OSM community in China by means of virtual ethnography and qualitative interview, in order to reveal the role of the media in the production of map knowledge. It is found that a media ensemble is formed around the production of map knowledge in the OSM community, including three different layers, i.e., the core, communicative, and compensational cartographic layers. In them, cartographers carry out different media practices: mapping based on the iD editor and GPS devices, negotiating among cartographers within and outside OSM, and developing technical patches and appropriating other technologies outside OSM. In the process of participatory mapmaking, the seemingly democratic activity is actually the product of the interplay of individual experiences, local knowledge, community norms, scientific discourse, state power, identity, and media ensemble. Finally, the article attempts to combine the mediatization theory with empirical research, using “media ensemble” as a thread to link various media practices, in the hope of drawing the picture of the communicative figuration around the production of map knowledge.