On the routes of Great Khan towards the monotony of the New Sea

Abstract

It is usually considered that cartography is the language of geography. Following Ludwig Wittgenstein’s philosophy, we can affirm that any language is the expression of a “form of life”. Marco Polo and Christopher Columbus represent two different “forms of life” because they use different cartographic languages. Their trip and territory experiences are determined by it. Our “form of life”, influenced by the imperative of speed, has its origin in the modern cartographic representations.

Keywords: cartographic language, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Marco Polo, Christopher Columbus, speed.