Mapping Time: Cartography at the Limits of World History

David Christian's Maps of Time is taken as a point of reference to explore the temporal strategies used in world history to navigate what Christian calls 'Big History'. A participatory and performative model of meaning making is proposed that utilizes multiple temporal strategies simultaneously. Evolutionary theory is explored as a narrative device in Christian's hermeneutic and pushed to incorporate new developments in the field. Causal Layered Analysis is introduced as an approach to facilitate deep-mapping, and cartography as a narrative device is also applied to the concept 'civilization' and hegemony. The thinking of astrophysicist Nikolai Kardashev about stellar and galactic civilizations is introduced to further extend the temporal context for Christian's historical process. The goal of this article is to interrogate assumptions that underpin an overly linear reliance on maps to reveal patterns across time and culture. At the heart of this exploration is the desire to deepen and problematize the categories that shape Western historical thought and practice.