Maps as invective. «European-Asian» identity of Russia in satirical cartography of the 19th century

The article is devoted to the analysis of historical and cultural traditions of depicting the Russian Empire on European satirical maps of the 19th century. The study of this historical and cultural source allows us to identify the origins of critical strategies in visualizing the place and role of Russia in the geopolitical space of Europe and Asia by involving and comparative analysis of such additional documents as medieval and modern world maps. Despite all the differences in motives and interpretations of geographical objects by the creators of maps of different eras, what was common in their goals was the desire to semantize space, to give a significant – in spiritual, ideological, cultural, political, propaganda sense – meaning to the geographical location of that or another country in a global (but more often European) “concert” of countries, peoples, states and cultures. Satirical maps of the world traditionally spoke the language of allegories and metaphors, creating images of “neighbor”, “other”, “stranger”, “enemy” depending on the geopolitical and ideological relevance of the moment, but relying on the deep layers of cultural perception of spatial realities. The image of the Russian Empire, which combined “European-Asian”, “Western-Eastern” identities in both a geographical and cultural-civilizational sense, became for satirists a convenient propaganda method of ideological semantization and critical interpretation of its role in the system of great powers.