As many places around the world confront issues of globalization, migration and postcoloniality, travel writing has become a serious genre of study, reflecting some of the greatest concerns of our time. Encompassing forms as diverse as field journals, investigative reports, guidebooks, memoirs, comic sketches and lyrical reveries; travel writing is now a crucial focus for discussion across many subjects within the humanities and social sciences.
An ideal starting point for beginners, but also offering new perspectives for those familiar with the field, The Routledge Companion to Travel Writing examines:
Key debates within the field, including postcolonial studies, gender, sexuality and visual culture
Historical and cultural contexts, tracing the evolution of travel writing across time and over cultures
Different styles, modes and themes of travel writing, from pilgrimage to tourism
Imagined geographies, and the relationship between travel writing and the social, ideological and occasionally fictional constructs through which we view the different regions of the world.
Covering all of the major topics and debates, this is an essential overview of the field, which will also encourage new and exciting directions for study.
Contributors: Simon Bainbridge, Anthony Bale, Shobhana Bhattacharji, Dúnlaith Bird, Elizabeth A. Bohls, Wendy Bracewell, Kylie Cardell, Daniel Carey, Janice Cavell, Simon Cooke, Matthew Day, Kate Douglas, Justin D. Edwards, David Farley, Charles Forsdick, Corinne Fowler, Laura E. Franey, Rune Graulund, Justine Greenwood, James M. Hargett, Jennifer Hayward, Eva Johanna Holmberg, Graham Huggan, William Hutton, Robin Jarvis, Tabish Khair, Zoë Kinsley, Barbara Korte, Julia Kuehn, Scott Laderman, Claire Lindsay, Churnjeet Mahn, Nabil Matar, Steve Mentz, Laura Nenzi, Aedín Ní Loingsigh, Manfred Pfister, Susan L. Roberson, Paul Smethurst, Carl Thompson, C.W. Thompson, Margaret Topping, Richard White, Gregory Woods.
Edited by:
Carl Thompson
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 246mm,
Width: 174mm,
Spine: 30mm
Weight: 889g
ISBN: 9780415825245
ISBN 10: 0415825245
Series: Routledge Literature Companions
Pages: 486
Publication Date: 19 November 2015
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Primary
,
A / AS level
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Part 1. Key Debates and Critical Approaches 1. Truth, Lies and Travel Writing, Daniel Carey 2. Inner Journeys: Travel Writing as Life Writing, Simon Cooke 3. Travel Writing and Postcolonial Studies, Claire Lindsay 4. Travel Writing and Gender, Dúnlaith Bird 5. Travel Writing and Sexuality: Queering the Genre, Churnjeet Mahn 6. Travel Writing and Ethics, Corinne Fowler 7. Travel and the Body: Corporeality, Speed and Technology, Charles Forsdick 8. Travel Writing and Visual Culture, Margaret Topping 9. Travel Writing: Reception and Readership, Robin Jarvis Part 2. Historical Overviews 10. Travel Writing in the Ancient Mediterranean, William Hutton 11. Chinese Travel Writing, James M. Hargett 12. Indian Travel Writing, Shobhana Bhattacharji 13. Arabic Travel Writing, to 1916, Nabil Matar 14. Medieval European Travel Writing, Anthony Bale 15. Western Travel Writing, 1450-1750, Matthew Day 16. Western Travel Writing, 1750-1950, Barbara Korte 17. African Travel Writing, Aedín Ní Loingsigh 18. Travel Writing Now, 1950-Present, Carl Thompson Part 3. Styles, Modes, Themes 19. Pilgrims, Laura Nenzi 20. Discoverers and Explorers, Paul Smethurst 21. Travellers and Tourists, Zoë Kinsley 22. Picturesque Travel: The Aesthetics and Politics of Landscape, Elizabeth A. Bohls 23. Guidebooks, Scott Laderman 24. The Romantic Literary Travel Book, C.W. Thompson 25. Modernist Travel Writing, David Farley 26. Postmodernizing Travel Writing, Manfred Pfister 27. Travel Blogs, Kate Douglas and Kylie Cardell 28. Dark Tourism, Justin D. Edwards 29. Gay Travel Writing: An Unstable Category? Gregory Woods Part 4 Imagined Geographies 30. Ultima Thule / The North, Graham Huggan 31. Europe, Wendy Bracewell 32. North America / USA, Susan L. Roberson 33. Latin America, Jennifer Heyward 34. The Middle East, Eva Johanna Holmberg 35. India / South Asia, Tabish Khair 36. China, Julia Kuehn 37. Australia, Richard White and Justine Greenwood 38. Sub-Saharan Africa, Laura E. Franey 39. The Polar Regions, Janice Cavell 40. Deserts, Rune Graulund 41. Mountains, Simon Bainbridge 42. The Sea, Steve Mentz
Carl Thompson is Senior Lecturer in English at Nottingham Trent University, UK.
Reviews for The Routledge Companion to Travel Writing
Readers of this volume will be transported away from a cosy middle-class voyeuristic observation of travel into a serious new world, which offers new perspectives and insights into travel writing. This is a welcome addition to a respected series of volumes, which aim to throw new light on familiar topics. Having approached this volume with the feeling that I was entering familiar territory, I soon realised that the journey had only just begun. With its excellent bibliographies and wealth of references, the way is well signposted. - Diana Dixon, Freelance reviewer and Editor Local Studies Librarian, Oakham, UK
