When scholars approach a literary text or historical document with spatial tools, they rarely limit themselves to simply mapping the locations mentioned in the text. Instead, they often combine information from multiple sources (e.g., historical records, environmental data, cultural theory, or archival materials) to better understand how place and movement shape meaning.

Consider Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and The Frankenstein Atlas. The Atlas began as a class project for the course, Machines and the Age of Invention, taught by Jason M. Kelly during Spring 2018. While the class certainly identified and mapped locations mentioned in the novel, they also expanded their inquiry to include other kinds of information to both better contextualize the text and drive their interdisciplinary exploration of the history of science and medical ethics during the 18th and 19th centuries.

Exercise: Elements in a spatial exploration of Frankenstein

Why It Matters

Think about another literary work, historical event, or cultural artifact you know. What kinds of spatial information might help you analyze it?

• Possible examples might include:
• locations mentioned in the text
• movements of people or ideas
• environmental conditions
• political or administrative boundaries
• networks of correspondence or trade
• cultural or symbolic meanings attached to particular places

Spatial analysis becomes most powerful when we bring together multiple forms of knowledge to ask new questions about how space influences human experience.