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Mapping the World

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"Le dessous des cartes" redirects here. For the 1948 film, see Under the Cards.


Mapping the World
  • Le Dessous des cartes (in French)
  • Mit offenen Karten (in German)
Created byJean-Christophe Victor
Presented by
  • Jean-Christophe Victor (1990–2017)
  • Émilie Aubry (2017–present)
Country of origin
  • France
  • Germany
Original languages
  • French
  • German
Production
Running time10 minutes
Original release
Network
  • La Sept (1990–1992)
  • Arte (1992–present)
Release1990 (1990)–present

Mapping the World (French: Le Dessous des cartes) is a French programme that explains geopolitical contexts using maps as visual support. It was created in 1990 by political scientist Jean-Christophe Victor, who hosted it up until his death in 2016.[1] The programme returned in September 2017 with Émilie Aubry as host and airs weekly on the Franco-German channel Arte.[2]

Programming and format

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The show was first aired from 1990 to 1992, on La Sept until it stopped broadcasting, and has been on air since 1992 on the Franco-German channel Arte. The show is broadcast every Saturday at 20h00 (Paris local time, UTC+1) and rebroadcast several times a week. The format of the show has changed little since the first episode. However, the episode length expanded from 7 to 11 minutes. The transition from 11 to 26 minutes referred to by Jean-Christophe Victor in 2002 was abandoned.

Structure of the show

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In general, the show runs as follows:

  • Generic top
  • Introduction – the presenter introduces the topic of the show on a neutral background
  • Development – maps, animations and sometimes pictures while the presenter talks.
  • Conclusion – the presenter concludes the program on a neutral point of view
  • Bibliography of books which served as sources and / or may give the viewer further insight into the topic
  • End Credits

Maps and visualization methods

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Topographic maps are based on the Ordnance Survey Oxford Cartographers. The most commonly used map projection is that of Eckert (the Pseudo-cylindrical projection). The show also uses satellite imagery from Google Earth and the first use was in the episode named: "Nigeria, rich state poor country."

Program production cycle

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The Laboratoire d'études politiques et d'analyses cartographiques (LEPAC) produces about forty episodes a year for the channel Arte. The subjects for most episodes are decided a year in advance to allow time for production. This delay in the selection of themes allows a certain hindsight regarding the chosen topic. However, on occasion, the topic of an episode is more closely related to current events. For example, the episode "Tsunami, a natural phenomenon" aired just three months after the events in South-East Asia.

Subjects of the show

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Of the 300 programs (from March 2001 to May 2008), 210 (70%) have a geographical approach and 84 (28%) have a thematic approach. 6 issues remain unclassifiable: introspective (ex: "La Methode le Dessous des Cartes") or dreamers (ex: "A journey with Corto Maltese, Turkey to Samarkand"). For information and the geographical most commonly accepted:

Anecdote: The issue of 29 March 2000, for the week of April 1, is a parody of the show itself. The producing team of the show made what could be the episode of 1 April 3000 by offering a retrospective view of the past thousand years.

Methods and objectives

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In a special 10th birthday episode named "La méthode du Dessous des Cartes", the aims of the show were outlined:

The main, oft repeated aim of the show is "to understand rather than to inform."

Awards

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Publications

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Books

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  • Jean-Christophe Victor, Frank Tétart and Virginie Raisson, Le Dessous des cartes : Atlas géopolitique, map of Frederick Lernoud, ed. Arte and Tallandier, 2005, (ISBN 2847342346).
  • Jean-Christophe Victor, Frank Tétart and Virginie Raisson, Le Dessous des cartes 2 : Tome 2, Atlas d'un monde qui change, map of Lernoud Frederick, ed. Arte and Tallandier, 2007, (ISBN 2847344667).
  • Jean-Christophe Victor, Frank Tétart and Virginie Raisson, Le Dessous des Cartes : Coffret en 2 volumes : Atlas géopolitique; Atlas d'un monde qui change, map of Lernoud Frederick, ed. Arte and Tallandier, 2008 (ISBN 284734540X).

DVD

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Each semester, Arte Video and LEPAC publish a DVD. The DVD includes 12 to 20 episodes of the show regarding a theme. DVDs released so far:

Textbooks

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  • Le dessous des cartes Terminale : L’espace mondial
  • Le dessous des cartes Première : L’Europe et la France
  • Le dessous des cartes Seconde : Les Hommes occupent et aménagent la Terre
  • Le dessous des cartes Troisième : Le Monde d’aujourd’hui

References

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  1. ^ Papin, Delphine (29 December 2016). "Jean-Christophe Victor, expert en géopolitique et créateur de l'émission " Le Dessous des cartes ", est mort" [Jean-Christophe Victor, geopolitics expert and creator of the programme "Mapping the World", is dead]. Le Monde.fr (in French). Archived from the original on 29 December 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  2. ^ "China, ein Land, viele Gesichter - Mit offenen Karten" [China: One Country, Many Facets - Mapping the World]. ARTE (in German). Archived from the original on 15 December 2020. Retrieved 13 March 2021. Das beliebte geopolitische Magazin „Mit offenen Karten" wurde von Jean-Christophe Victor aus der Taufe gehoben. Seit September 2017 moderiert Emilie Aubry die Sendung.
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