地图上的“国家”:西方政治史研究中的地理学叙事及其变迁

The"Nation"on the Map:Geographical Narratives and Changes in Western Political History Research

近代以来,国家构建通常有着诸多不同的路径选择,现有研究更多关注“民族性”,而忽略了“领土性”,后者作为塑造共同体意识的一项独立要素,是基于地理和空间的尺度,并且在日常生活中经由地图来呈现和表达的。早在民族主义兴起以前,这种地缘性的领土国家建设及其测绘制图的实践就已然出现,尤其是在17世纪后的欧洲,地图既是一种“显示器”,反映了外部的边界划定与内部的国土整合,也是一种“助推器”,促成了阅读、出版和传播基础上的意识形塑与认同构建,这两者互为表里,共同促成了疆域与国家历史书写的新面貌。地图的制作、编纂及其政治过程也就构成了一种不同于文字的、关于近代国家的图像志记载,而梳理这种地图之上的国家叙事不仅可以修补现有的国家理论,而且有助于推动一种综合了科学史、文化史与政治史的跨学科研究。

In modern times,there have been various paths to constructing a nation,but current research tends to focus more on"ethnicity"while overlooking"territoriality."The latter,as an independent element in shaping the sense of community, is based on geographical and spatialscales, and is presented and expressed through maps in dailylife. Even before the rise of nationalism, this geographically-based territorial state building and mapping practicehad already emerged, especially in Europe after the 17th century. Maps serve as both a "display" that reflectsexternal border demarcation and internal integration of national territory, and a "booster" that promotesconsciousness shaping and identity construction based on reading, publishing, and dissemination. These twoaspects are interrelated and jointly contribute to a new appearance of territorial and national history writing. Theproduction, compilation, and political process of maps thus constitute a visual record of modern nations that isdistinct from written records, and reviewing the national narratives on these maps can not only mend existing statetheories, but also help promote interdisciplinary research that integrates the history of science, culture, and politics.