Cultural and geographical differences often create points of contention, and humor, between different countries. Now we can see specific countries’ points of view on the world, and people, around them laid out in map form with the Mapping Stereotypes project by Bulgarian designer Yanko Tsvetkov.
The collection already has over 40 maps, and you may have seen some of them already, but Tsvetkov just released his latest map “Europe According to Luxembourg,” and we’re using that as an excuse to post some of our favorites. He was asked by the German magazine Der Spiegel to create the newest map, and at first he was apprehensive because he didn’t know enough jokes to fill an entire map. The Der Spiegel team jumped in to give him information and soon after he had a snarky, yet accurate, representation — at least, according to Luxembourgers.
Tsvetkov was initially inspired by the 2009 political crisis in Europe, as grim as it may have been. Rather than focusing on the negative, he had the idea to replace names of countries on a map with funny phrases that described how they handled the crisis. He posted it to Flickr and the image quickly went viral in Europe.
Listening to the immense response, Tsvetkov started to think he was onto something. He says he always had interest in historical and cultural idiosyncrasies: “Why in Denmark is a ‘Danish pasty’ called a ‘Viennese pastry?’ And why are French fries actually Belgian?” So he set out to make more maps inspired by the weird questions he had about different cultures, and inspired by how different cultures view each other. Being from Bulgaria, Tsvetkov says it was easy to discover how natives of one country feel about their neighbors.
“The great thing about Europe is that you only have to move a few kilometers to find yourself in a different country,” he said. “Each nation here claims it invented hot water, so if you travel enough and you pay attention, you will collect a lot of jokes.”
And that’s Tsvetkov’s main research method for the maps: traveling and paying attention. He gathers information indirectly, and almost sneakily, from friends and people he meets in other countries. Rather than asking someone what they think of a certain country, he’ll ask, “How was your last trip to Brazil?” or “Who would win a fight, Catwoman or Dilma Rousseff?” While Tsvetkov acknowledges this will not always result in the most objective answers, and different groups in a country will not always agree, he says that the lack of objectivity is inevitable but it’s what ultimately keeps each map interesting, relatable, and fun.
“I don’t present the maps as products of a methodical, scientific research, because someone from Caracas may not agree with someone from Mexico City,” he said. “Excavation of prejudice is not an exact science and I’m more of a comedian than a psychoarcheologist. The maps are just like caricatures, we all laugh at them but we know very well they’re not completely true.”
Not surprisingly, the maps about the United States have blown up the interwebs, but while they’ve gotten the most buzz overall, Tsvetkov has seen certain maps pique the interest of certain countries. For example, “Europe According to Greece” is popular in German publications, as is “Europe According to Silvio Berlusconi.” Currently, he has a few more maps in the works, including “The World According to Christopher Columbus,” “Europe According to Hitler” and “Europe According to Bismarck.”
He also have plans to grow the map collection outside of this website and blog. There are prints and a calendar of the maps available on Zazzle, and this February Tsvetkov released a Mapping Stereotypes book in Germany. The rest of 2013 will see more of these books, including a Russian version at the end of August, and English and Spanish versions by the end of the year.
What stereotype map would you like to see?
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