Abstract
It is to explore possibilities of a new interpretation in the Honil kangni yŏktae kukto chido (hereafter referred to as the Kangnido) by focusing on discourses of map and map contents. For this it will be provided a general historical background knowledge of maps, such as intentions of map-making, the process of map-making, geographical information reflected on map, and map-makers etc, in the context of how political power has shaped those elements of map-makings. And also I attempt to grasp the perception of the ‘external world,’ which is in particular Arabia-Africa region by focusing on Arabia-Africa geographical and topographical characters and place-names, identified with about seventy-one names consisted of twenty-four names of places in Arabia and forty-seven names of places in Africa. A history of map can be interpreted as a historical discourse or a form of representation. Cartography is theoretically related to literary criticism, history of art, the sociology of knowledge. Map is never value-free, rather value-laden. Map knowledge is a social product. Any history of cartography which demeans the politico-social significance of its expression and description in the map would be an ‘ahistorical’ history.
