Treść książki

Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
FromtheEditors
Thepresentvolumecollectsessaysthatfocusontheliterarymotifofjourney
orquest,thedescriptionsoftravelinliterarytextsandtravelwriting,aswell
astextualconstructionsoftheforeignandtheexoticinnineteenth-century
Britishwriting.Theessaysdiscussinvariouswaysandthroughdiferentlenses
howjourneys,voyagesandquestsmayinvolveencounterswithotherness
aswellasentaildiferentstrategiesforrespondingtowhatisperceivedas
foreign,exotic,strangeorunknown.Duetoanumberofhistorical,cultural
andtechnologicaldevelopments,thenineteenthcenturywitnessedaseries
oftransformationsinthemodesandpurposesoftravelanditscultural
significance.InAlfredTennyson’sfamousdramaticmonologueUlysses(1842),
themythicalheroasserts:flIcannotrestfromtravel”ltheiconicadventurer
yearnsfornewvoyagessoonafterreturningtohislong-missedhomeland,
Ithaca.ThoughnotallvoyagesreachthescaleofUlysses’smythicaljourneys,
theexcitementoftravel,theyearningforadventureandthefascination
withdistantorexoticlocationsplayasignificantroleinnineteenth-century
literatureandtravelwriting.Theriseofmasstourismintheperiodmeant
thattravelingforpleasurebecamewidelypracticedinmoderntimes,as
JamesBuzardobservesinhisculturalhistoryoftourism,TheBeatenTrack.
EuropeanTourism,Literature,andtheWaysto‘Culture’1800-1918(1993).
Simultaneously,thegrowthofglobaltrade,theriseofmajorcolonialpowers
andthescopeofcolonialconquestmeantthatvoyagestodistant,exotic
locationsbecameformanyamatterofnecessity,andpartofthepictureof
modernlife.Thehistorical-geographicaltransformationsontheglobalscale
inthemodernperiodentailedtheintensificationofinterculturalencounters
andrelations,includingthoseinvolvingappropriation,exploitation,and
evengenocide.AttheendofthenineteenthcenturyJosephConradwould
writebitterlyinHeartofDarkness(1899)oftheflconquestoftheearth”that
amountstoflrobberywithviolence,aggravatedmurderonagreatscale.”
Thecriticalinterestinothernesswithinliteraryandculturalstudies,
generallyspeaking,correlateswiththewishtoexaminethecategoriesof
thoughtthatregulatewhatisdeemedfamiliar,commonplace,ornormal.