Travel literature
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Travel literature is literature which records the people, events, sights and feelings of an author who is touring a foreign place for the pleasure of travel. An individual work is sometimes called a travelogue or itinerary.
To be called literature the work must have a coherent narrative, or insights and value, beyond a mere logging of dates and events, such as diary or ship's log. Literature that recounts adventure, exploration and conquest is often grouped under travel literature, but it also has its own genre outdoor literature; these genres will often overlap with no definite boundaries. This article focuses on literature that is more akin to tourism.
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[edit] History
One of the earliest known records of taking pleasure in travel, of traveling for the sake of travel and writing about it, is Petrarch's (1304–1374) ascent of Mount Ventoux in 1336. He states that he went to the mountaintop for the pleasure of seeing the top of the famous height. His companions who stayed at the bottom he called frigida incuriositas ("a cold lack of curiosity"). He then wrote about his climb, making allegorical comparisons between climbing the mountain and his own moral progress in life.
Michault Taillement, a poet for the Duke of Burgundy, traveled through the Jura Mountains in 1430 and left us with his personal reflections, his horrified reaction to the sheer rock faces, and the terrifying thunderous cascades of mountain streams. Antoine de la Sale (c. 1388–c. 1462), author of Petit Jehan de Saintre, climbed to the crater of a volcano in the Lipari Islands in 1407, leaving us with his impressions. "Councils of mad youth" were his stated reasons for going. In the mid 15th century, Gilles le Bouvier, in his Livre de la description des pays, gave us the best reason to travel and write:
- Because many people of diverse nations and countries delight and take pleasure, as I have done in times past, in seeing the world and things therein, and also because many wish to know without going there, and others wish to see, go, and travel, I have begun this little book.
In 1589, Richard Hakluyt (c. 1552–1616) published Voyages, a foundational text of the travel literature genre.
Other later examples of travel literature include the Grand Tour European nobles would take of Europe to see the art and architecture of old civilizations. One tourism literature pioneer was Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894).
[edit] Travel guides
Travel literature is not to be confused with travel guides, usually a series put out by a publisher, each dealing with a particular country, city or region. These are useful for travelers, as they provide a wealth of information on hotels, restaurants, major sights, travel tips etc. The writers are often specialists who travel and write these books for a living.
[edit] Types of travelogues
Some travel writers are people who travel and make their livings by writing about it. The Americans William Least Heat-Moon (b. 1940) and Paul Theroux (b. 1941), the Welsh author Jan Morris (b. 1926), and the Englishman Eric Newby (1919–2006), come to mind, although Morris is also known as an historian and Theroux as a novelist.
There is a point, too, where travel literature interesects with essay writing, as in V. S. Naipaul's India: A Wounded Civilization (1977), where a trip becomes the occasion for extended observations on a nation and people. Rebecca West's (1892–1983) work on Yugoslavia, Black Lamb and Grey Falcon (1941) is another example.
Travel and nature writing merge in many of the works of Sally Carrighar (1895–1985), Ivan T. Sanderson (1911–1973), and Gerald Durrell (1925–1995). These authors are naturalists who write to support their great passion. Both Durrell and Sanderson can be quite funny. Charles Darwin (1809–1882) wrote his famous account of the journey of HMS Beagle at the intersection of science, natural history and travel.
Literary travel writing also occurs when an author, famous in another field, travels and writes about his or her experiences. Examples of such writers are Samuel Johnson (1709–1784), Charles Dickens (1812–1870), Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894), Hilaire Belloc (1870–1953), D.H. Lawrence (1885–1930), Rebecca West (1892–1983), John Steinbeck (1902–1968), and Evelyn Waugh (1903–1966).
We might also include fictional travelogues such as the mythical journey in Homer's Odyssey (c. 8th cent. BCE), or the allegorical journeys of Dante's Divine Comedy (1321), Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels (1726), or Voltaire's Candide (1759).
Travel writing is also available online. Unlike published works, online travel journals, or travelogues, are often written on the go with frequent updates.
[edit] Notable travel writers and travel literature
See outdoor literature for adventure/exploration/nature literature.
- Abu ad-Din al-Husayn Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Jubayr (1145–1214)
- Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Batutta (1304–c. 1377)
- Richard Hakluyt (c. 1552–1616):
- The Principall Navigations, Voiages and Discoveries of the English Nation (1589) — A foundational text of the travel literature genre.
- Samuel Johnson (1709–1784):
- A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland (1775) — The lexicographer and his friend James Boswell (1740–1795) visit Scotland in 1773.
- Laurence Sterne (1713–1768):
- Heinrich Heine (1797–1856)
- Karl Baedeker (1801–1859)
- Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–1859)
- Charles Dickens (1812–1870):
- American Notes (1842).
- Pictures of Italy (1844–1845).
- Herman Melville (1819–1891):
- Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life (1846).
- Omoo: A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas (1847) — Chronicles of Melville's experiences as a sailor in Polynesia.
- Fran Levstik (1831–1887):
- Mark Twain (1835–1910)
- Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894):
- Norman Douglas (1868–1962):
- Old Calabria (1915).
- Hilaire Belloc (1870–1953):
- The Path To Rome (1902) — A ramble by foot from central France to Rome in 1901.
- W. Somerset Maugham (1874–1965):
- On a Chinese Screen (1922) — Vignettes of China in the '30s from the master of the short story.
- D.H. Lawrence (1885–1930):
- Henry Vollam Morton (1892–1979)
- Rebecca West (1892–1983):
- Black Lamb and Grey Falcon (1941) — A 1,181-page look at Yugoslavia in 1937 by the pro-Serb West and a fascinating, if less than objective, account of this land before the tragedies of World War II and the 1990s wars.
- Gordon Sinclair (1900–1984):
- John Steinbeck (1902–1968):
- Travels With Charley: In Search of America (1962) — A classic American road book describing Steinbeck's journeys with his poodle, Charley.
- Evelyn Waugh (1903–1966):
- Waugh Abroad: Collected Travel Writing — A classic account of the English novelist's restless wanderings around the world in the 1930s and later.
- Laurens van der Post (1906–1996):
- The Lost World of the Kalahari (1958) — Auberon Waugh (1939–2001) described van der Post as the person in whose company he'd most like to spend an evening. This book by the South African soldier/explorer/writer suggests why.
- Wilfred Thesiger (1910–2003)
- Lawrence Durrell (1912–1990):
- Prospero's Cell: A Guide to the Landscape and Manners of the Island of Corcyra (1945) — This text describes Durrell's time in Corfu. It should be read in tandem with his brother Gerald's My Family and Other Animals.
- Reflections on a Marine Venus (1953) — Durrell's experiences in Rhodes.
- Bitter Lemons (1957) — Durrell in Cyprus.
- Heinrich Harrer (1912–2006)
- Gavin Maxwell (1914–1969)
- Patrick Leigh Fermor (b. 1915):
- A Time Of Gifts (1977) — A journey by an 18 year old in 1933/4 overland from the Hook of Holland to Hungary, rewritten in old age from long lost notes.
- Eric Newby (1919–2006):
- A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush (1958) — Popular English travel writer.
- Lucjan Wolanowski (1920–2006):
- Jack Kerouac (1922–1969):
- On The Road (1957).
- Gerald Durrell (1925–1995):
- My Family and Other Animals (1956) — A description of an idyllic childhood on Corfu in the 1930s by the brother of Lawrence Durrell (1912–1990). This text combines natural observations, humour, storytelling, and travel.
- Fillets of Plaice (1971).
- Jan Morris (b. 1926):
- Trieste and the Meaning of Nowhere (2001) — Author of many works, especially about cities.
- Juan Goytisolo (b. 1931)
- Ryszard Kapuściński (b. 1932)
- Barbara Grizzuti Harrison (1934–2002)
- Venedikt Erofeev (1938–1990):
- Moskva–Pеtushki (1973) — A Russian tale of alcohol, love, and a train ride; translated into English as Moscow to the End of the Line.
- Peter Mayle (b. 1939)
- Colin Thubron (b. 1939)
- Bruce Chatwin (1940–1989):
- In Patagonia (1977).
- The Songlines (1987) — One of the best English stylists of the 20th century.
- William Least Heat-Moon (b. 1940):
- Blue Highways: A Journey into America (1982) — An American Classic by an author well known for travel writing.
- Frances Mayes (b. 1940):
- Paul Theroux (b. 1941):
- The Great Railway Bazaar (1975) — Perhaps Theroux's most popular travel work.
- Jonathan Raban (b. 1942)
- Michael Palin (b. 1943)
- Julian Barnes (b. 1946)
- Bill Bryson (b. 1951):
- Notes from a Small Island (1995) — Travels in the United Kingdom.
- Quim Monzó (b. 1952)
- Pico Iyer (b. 1957):
- Karl Taro Greenfeld (b. 1964):
- Standard Deviations: Growing Up and Coming Down in the New Asia — An exploration of the traveler/backpacker subcultures in the Far East during the 1990s by a writer who was there.
- Alain de Botton (b. 1969):
- The Art of Travel (2002).
- Cleo Paskal
- Rantanen Päivi and Kannisto Santeri
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Speake, Jennifer (2003), ed. Literature of Travel and Exploration: An Encyclopedia. 3 vol. [N.p.]: Routledge. ISBN 1-57958-247-8.
