Travel Writing

Travel Writing

1. Perspectives changed of the world and their own country

   • Travel writing was a revolutionary genre. Fiction and non-fiction were not early modern categories.
     • Travel writing blurs the line of fiction and non-fiction. It was very political - contained political context of arguments, there was a political context. Involved in political controversy.
       • It is probably the oldest genre of literature. Homer's odyssey 8BCE. Medieval period there are many pilgrims travelling. The travels of Marco Polo c1300.
         • Some are fiction, some are non-fiction. Medieval texts used for interpretation for later travels.
           • Had to write down your travels: for use of maps, political or commercial interest, drawing investment, attract settlers, building empire and nationalism, justifying conquest (writing about native people), personal reputation - glorifying the author and political and social critique.
             • Need for eyewitness account, they cannot write for any purpose.
               • Francis Bacon: New kind of independence and knowledge based on observation and eye witness account. New way of thinking as well as new place.
         • The Grand Tour: Education of a young noblemen.

2. The 'Other'

   • Who was encountered during their travel - the natives.
     • Representations tended to fall into certain categories. Lands get created in different way, these understandings justified colonisation and conquest in these lands.
       • Edward Said - Orientalism, focused on the 'other', what Europeans took to define the opposite of themselves.
         • The Other becomes homogenised (all the same), feminised (weaker), essentialised
           • The Noble Savage: Idealised perception of the native peoples who had not been corrupted as some Europeans had. The savage is in some way better than the European.
             • Travel writing reflects on ones own view of their home - political and social. Content and context made it political.

3. Thomas Moore's Utopia and Vespucci

   • Island in the new world that a traveller has found. Everyone was equal and happy, no private property. Do away with all corruption in Europe.
     • Fiction. Draws consciously on Vespucci's writing on the New World. No value in silver and gold. Utopia description. parallels Vespucci's
       • Exchange of houses so they don't feel like it is theirs. Epicureanism- philosophy of happiness, Vespucci describes the natives as such. Peace not war.
         • Not directly talking about the New World but uses it to critique the old world. Utopia is a republic, Prince is elected, also not the most powerful office in the country, war is condemned.
           • Values of Moore and Erasmus (humanist)
     • 1516, Reign of Henry VIII, critique of war and luxury of the court, conspicuous consumption during the time. New world is a blank canvas.

4. Thomas Coryat 1577-1617

   • James I, Prince Henry - perfect prince that would never be king. Commissions travel writing, eyes of the prince. One such traveller was Thomas Coryat. Travelled for the purpose of writing.
     • Descriptions of Venice: Praised for virtues, trade, Republic. Also wrote of France when tensions between them and England were high. Travel writing used for political reasons.
       • Fundamental shift on what knowledge and authority was important.

5. The Bible and Christianity

   • Encountering people who were not featured in the Bible, where do they fit in? Were the peoples of America still in the garden of Eden.
     • Challenged biblical historical understandings of the world: were they good? Challenged ancient understandings of the world. The ancients did not know about this continent, what else did they not know? Foundation to build a new kind of knowledge.
   • The source of knowledge: Maybe it doesn't come from ancient authority but maybe observations, like prince Henry thought.

6. GRAFTON: New worlds, ancient texts: The power of tradition and the shock of discovery.

   • Between 1550 and 1650 Western thinkers ceased to believe that they could find all important truths in ancient books.
     • Own experience of travel contradicted the view of ancient philosophers. Mental world was bounded by the knowledge contained on their library shelves.
       • By early 17thC knowledge had burst the bounds of the library. Modern knowledge, unlike the older kind, could be communicated to anyone with common sense in any language.
         • The world was no longer accessible only through learned books in Latin, it could be known directly. The new understanding of the world grew from roots planted outside the realm of learning.
           • Drew much of its sustenance from the movement, led by practical men rather than scholars. Western explorers and writers had to deal with lands and societies, customs and religions, men and women, who's very existence they had not expected
             • The encounter between Europe and America juxtaposed a vast number of inconvenient facts with the theories embodied in the previous authoritative books.
               • Some argue it made little impact on European thought: confirmed European prejudices about the superiority to white Christians of those of other breeds and creeds.
                 • Revolution in the form of knowledge and expression took place in early modern Europe. Ancient texts served as both tools and obstacles for the intellectual exploration of the new worlds.