Cybergeo (Oct 2009)
La première carte moderne de Tunis (1831-1832). Le travail de Falbe en contexte
Abstract
Cartography is indissociable from the process of State building, and is also closely tied in with the colonization and pre-colonization movement, most particularly in the 19th century. This analysis aims to examine the singular and founding contribution of Christian Tuxen Falbe, a ship’s captain in the Danish navy, the Danish Consul in Tunis, an expert in archaeology and a Francophile, to whom we owe the first modern map of the city of Tunis in the early 1830s. Our analytical approach is guided by three related considerations: the way in which a foreigner is able to observe a territorialized social system in a culture that is different from his own; the practical conditions surrounding the application of cartographic ideas and governing the terms on which they are carried out, in particular the use of innovative techniques for the purpose of taking precise measurements; finally, the possible exploitation of this cartographic work by the French authorities who had just undertaken the colonization of neighboring Algeria at the time.
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