Text to Map (ΤtM): An interdisciplinary methodological approach of intersemiotic translation of text into map

The aim of this paper is to present a new interdisciplinary methodological approach to the intersemiotic translation of text into map form (Text-to-Map methodology, TtM). To this end, all stages of the workflow for converting a meaning-bearing text into a map (e.g., thematic map, geospatial data representation, informational graphic/infographic, etc.) are described in detail. The written text that may undergo intersemiotic translation can take various forms (closed or open type, table or database, literary text, etc.), or belong to different typologies (expressive, informative, or appellative), or genres (short story, autobiography, letter, report). The Text-to-Map intersemiotic translation methodology proves to be functional and effective, particularly in cases of texts containing a large number of named entities describing a geographical area or land and maritime routes, as is typically the case in travel narratives or works of travel literature. The usefulness of the interdisciplinary TtM approach lies, on the one hand, in its ability to translate a written text into a map, and on the other, in its capacity to concisely, clearly, and efficiently incorporate all geospatially relevant information from a multi-page source text or its translation, by geo-visualizing it in the form of a map, cartographic extract, infographic, or diagram.