Abstract
Mattheis explores the possibilities contained in urban spaces by creating and analysing a variety of maps based on Tendai Huchu’s translocal Edinburgh novel The Maestro, the Magistrate & the Mathematician (2015). In addition to an examination of the translocality (the layering of two or more distinct spaces) that shapes and forms a rapidly increasing number of contemporary city novels, Mattheis questions the rather metaphorical mapping lexicon that is used extensively in urban, literary and cultural studies. She focuses instead on the actual physical locations and trajectories referenced by a text. Using maps of these spaces, Mattheis then provides an insight into how translocally perceived urban places are layered over memories and immediate walking experiences. Mattheis’ approach is informed by Ayona Datta and Katherine Brickell’s use of the term translocal, but also by Tania Rossetto’s thoughts on maps and literature, and Franco Moretti’s approaches to abstraction.