Its an essay on the changing ways travel and exploration was perceived after the wake of colonialism in Europe and the ways perceptions about the 'other' fabricate specific responses on the part of the explorer.
Its an essay on the changing ways travel and exploration was perceived after the wake of colonialism in Europe and the ways perceptions about the 'other' fabricate specific responses on the part of the explorer.
Its an essay on the changing ways travel and exploration was perceived after the wake of colonialism in Europe and the ways perceptions about the 'other' fabricate specific responses on the part of the explorer.
Disenchantment " Submitted by #iganta $hattacharya% Key Words: Travel, narrative, Text, Travelogue, Subject, Object, Geography, Ethnography, Docuentation, !esthetic, "iction, #arrator, Theory$ Travel as %etaphor: The Eerging !esthetic o& Space &erha!s the most !ressing issue as regards the theori'ations on tra(elogue or tra(el-narrati(es is establishing a definiti(e" distinctly-ma!!ed out aesthetic of it" and this s!ecific tas) has !articularly a!!eared to be needlessly tric)y !recisely because of the essentially interdisci!linary nature of this genre% *t is not difficult to e+!lain ,hy that is the case% Travel is more of an archety!al motif than a -genre. !ro!er/ it has traditionally functioned as a (ery inclusi(e and !otent meta!hor irres!ecti(e of generic boundaries or di(isions% *n fact" most of ,hat is commonly considered as -classics. re!resenting seminal literary achie(ements of certain cultures at a certain stage of cultural de(elo!ment can be 0uite comfortably inter!reted or analy'ed through this meta!hor% *t should be both interesting and instructi(e to discuss ho, and to ,hat e+tent the tra(el meta!hor" through (arious sub-generic ramifications as ,ell as itineraries clarify certain -set !atterns. of established literary genres as far as narrati(e structuri'ation is concerned% The most fundamental as!ect of this structuri'ation is of course em!lotment" the narrati(e ordering of the story that is !rimarily constituted of" as the !o!ular reader-res!onse a!!roach ,ould ha(e it" !reser(ing and1or shattering e+!ectations as regards ho, the generic features in a certain narrati(e ,ould fan out% As any normal course on the history of English literature ,ould re(eal" this -matching. of the reader.s e+!ectations ,ith ho, and to ,hat e+tent they become actuali'ed in -reality." in the narrati(e itself that is" has continued to be more un!redictable" erratic" arbitrary" and non-causal% The last ad2ecti(e assumes central im!ortance (is-3-(is the narrati(e structuri'ation of a tra(el narrati(e% The te+ts ,hich are considered classic instances of high-Modernist or &ostmodern literature oftentimes (irtually deconstruct" not to say e+!lode standard causal de(elo!ment of a narrati(e% 4af)a.s Metamorphosis or 5o,les. 5rench 6ieutenant7s 8oman" through foregrounding their literary as ,ell as -constructed. status" com!romise causal !roceeding" and that !hiloso!hical choice emblemati'es a statement on the larger reality beyond the boundaries of the te+t" a freedom the ,riter can en2oy only because of the inherently -literary. character of the narrati(e% This freedom is the o!tion for a choice that the ,riter is afforded since s1he can dis!ense ,ith a rational" or in the other sense causal e(olution of the narrati(e in the name of a s!ecific !hiloso!hical or ideological affiliation% The oot point is: a travelogue'(riter is custoarily le&t (ithout any option o& indulging in this sort o& relaxation siply because the narrative is so preoccupied (ith creating the leffet de reel or -reality effect. that the re!resentation of both the s!atio-tem!oral (ariables of the s!ecific locale under consideration" and a chronological de(elo!mental !attern become !rimary te+tual obligations% egardless of the fact that the narrati(e may follo, a linear tem!oral !rogression or a retros!ecti(e one" tell the story using a first !erson narrati(e (oice or that of an official and detached -obser(er." a tra(el narrati(e cannot afford to be e+!erimental as far as the essential element of causality is concerned% Any tra(el narrati(e is !rimarily descri!tion as ,ell as documentation/ - it is effecti(ely a commentary on some!lace that geogra!hically e+ists" and hence something that the ,riter !refers to be consumed as non-fiction instead of something that might be construed as an effusion of the faculty of imagination% E(en if it is fictional" there remains a distinct attem!t on the !art of the narrator to ma)e it a!!ear -real./ to !ersuade the su!!osed reader to belie(e that either ,hat is being described really ha!!ened or e+ists" or this is e+actly ,hat ,ould ha(e ha!!ened if all the e(ents described ,ere to come to !ass% That is s!ecifically ,hy Mande(ille.s Travels are more conforming to the standard aesthetic or generic e+!ectations of tra(el narrati(e than another (ery !o!ular account of tra(el also em!loying the first-!erson narrati(e structure" Gullivers Travels% 8hereas both of them are fantastical in nature and strains credulity at that" ,ith the bi'arre flights of fancy and lac) of causality rendering it harder to achie(e the ,illing sus!ension of disbelief" the one by S,ift has al,ays been (ie,ed as an elaborate allegory" and not a tra(elogue to a !ossible distant land in a still largely unma!!ed !lanet ,here there could be more things in hea(en and earth than ,ere dreamt of% 9n the other hand" Mande(ille.s tra(elogue" imaginary as ,ell as fanciful as it is" ,as indeed used as reference by none other than :olumbus% This information should raise serious 0uestions as regards the s!ecific elements that establish a certain narrati(e.s status as a -tra(elogue.% *t a!!ears" then" that the element of fantasy or fictionality not,ithstanding" !erha!s a tra(el narrati(e !ursues a causal structure of its o,n" in accordance ,ith the s!atiotem!oral ;in<(ariables or coordinates that are established or tentati(ely ascertained at the outset% Since a tra(el narrati(e is normally a descri!ti(e tale that mo(es along a definiti(e a+is ,ith negligibly little o!!ortunities for sur!rises in terms of narrati(e e(olution" the -established. s!ace-time structure tends to remain the same% 5rom a theoretical !ers!ecti(e it is both a con(enient and an incon(enient reality as far as the aesthetic of tra(el narrati(e is concerned but here it ,ould be !rudential to limit the discussion ,ithin some chosen outcomes of this te+tual !henomenon on the connotati(e le(el" to the e+tent it effecti(ely influences certain narrative patterns$ #o( it should be use&ul to revert bac) to (hat (as argued earlier about the essential pliability o& the etaphor o& travel, its *user' &riendliness+ to allo( itsel& to be engaged in interpretations o& texts &ro diverse genres, in a variety o& interpretive odels depending on the critic+s ideological accopanient or reading choices$ The ultidiensional use&ulness as (ell as eployent o& travel'as' etaphor cannot be stressed enough: &ro the text'as'representing a travel or docuenting a spatial oveent ,as The Canterbury Tales- to the te+t as documenting a 2ourney underta)en by a singular !ersonality attaining heroic !ro!ortions because of the 2ourney" on the !hysical le(el ;as the Odyssey< or on the le(el of an elaborate s!iritual allegory ;as The Divine Comedy<" to the te+t as documenting a !ersonal 2ourney on the !sychological le(el" the ,riter" in the !rocess" achie(ing an e+alted state of reali'ation ;as Augustine.s Confessions or 8ords,orth.s The prelude< to the te+t-as-re!resenting the terrible ennui of the agoni'ingly re!etiti(e and monotonous 2ourney of regular life" tem!oral and1or sub2ecti(e mo(ement being the focus of interest ;as Joyce.s Ulysses" the stream-of- consciousness no(els or the most !o!ular Modernist !oems of Eliot< to a te+t ,here tra(el itself becomes the issue" a !rime arbiter in determining the destiny of the character;s<" tra(el-as-a gift and a curse" sometimes one of the t,o" sometimes both at the same time" dealing ,ith !olitically charged issue li)e immigration" migration" in-bet,eenness" or hybridity ;as ushdie.s Midnights Children or Malouf.s An maginary !ife<"-the list could go on fore(er% *f the attention is shifted from actual te+ts to,ard narrati(e theories" the meta!hor of tra(el is no less !otent/ - to omit the academic details" the reading !ractice or the act of reading itself has been construed as an act of tra(el" the reader being the tra(eller" ,ith other crucial analogies attendant u!on the !rimary meta!hor ,hen and as a!!licable% *n the recent theori'ations on the aesthetics of tra(el narrati(e these -analogies. are being referred to as -itineraries." - e(en though the later noun can be some,hat confusing and misleading and has also been used ,ith different significations altogether% To illustrate the !oint" in the causal structure of a tra(el narrati(e these itineraries" e+ce!t sho,ing the logic inherent in the causal relation" also em!hasi'e the role of the reader1tra(eller as the e+!eriencing1narrating agency" ,ith fulfilled or shattered e+!ectations along the narrati(e symboli'ing generic de(iation ;for the reader< or unresol(ed direction ;for the tra(eller<% #igression and chronological com!le+ities" ty!ical to e+!loration narrati(e" increase the sense of narrati(ity by u!setting e+!ectations as to the agents. goal% The similarity ,ith the reader-res!onse school of thought is ob(ious% 8hile the sheer multidimensionality of this meta!hor is a!!arent" it.s successful rendering or ada!tation ne(er ceases to sur!rise% *t is ,orth remembering the (ery inade0uate in(entory of te+ts already mentioned" all of them being instances of -classic. or -serious. literature" transcending the time of their origin% #es!ite the fact that in all of them there is a distincti(e tra(el-!attern or 2ourney-theme in one ,ay or the other ;along ,ith themes on territoriali'ation or re1deterritoriali'ation" nomadism" or detouring- to name only fe, of a (ast number of conce!ts ,ith the central theme of tra(el< ,ith other attendant analogies reinforcing that meta!hor" and a rudimentary causal structure that !ro2ects the sub2ect as undergoing ;and maturing in the !rocess< a 2ourney" none of them is e(er considered a -tra(el narrati(e. !er se% =ence it should be commonsensical to infer that 0uite contrary to the !re(alent notion" it is tra(el narrati(e that !erha!s maintains the most rigorous !arameters for a narrati(e to be considered as -officially. belonging to genre% $ut this is not to ad(ocate the relati(e status of a some,hat neglected and hence under-theori'ed genre/ rather it is to !oint out salient features that render the generic identity of a tra(el narrati(e uni0ue% As for e+am!le" the -!arameters. that su!!osedly contribute to the generic identity of a tra(el narrati(e are much less -literary. as the term is commonly understood% To clarify the !oint" since it is the dual a+es of s!ace and time that ultimately construct the causal structure of a tra(elogue" the construction of it has a !redominantly architectonic element in it: ,hereas a ,or) of =omer or Joyce ;,hen ,or)ing on !rimarily the theme of tra(el< sho,s disorgani'ed mo(ement" ca!itali'e on sub2ecti(e as!ect" occlude causal relations" !resents e+am!les of the discontinuous" the amor!hous" and the sur!rising" a serious ,riter as!iring to ,rite a tra(elogue sim!ly cannot afford that rela+ation% $oris Tomashe(s)y" a ussian theorist on narratology has done some brilliant ,or)s on the e+!osition-strategies customarily em!loyed in a causal structure in the construction of a !lot% =e has formally classified ,hat he calls -the arrangement of thematic elements. ;,hich he firmly belie(es follo,s a definite order< into t,o !rimary categories% The first category" he !ostulates" includes narrati(es ,here causal relation is maintained on the thematic le(el and the second category is consisted of narrati(es ,here -thematic elements are contem!oraneous. or ,here thematic alterations ta)e !lace -,ithout internal e+!osition of the causal connection.% 1
8hile this is an undeniably too abstract and theoretically laden scheme that Tomashe(s)y !refigures" the em!hasis on causal structure as a !i(otal factor is a!!arent and that has e+tensi(e im!lications% Tomashe(s)y considers traditional no(el" story" to belong to the first category ,hereas in the second category he includes -descri!ti(e. accounts" li)e a tra(elogue% A cursory analysis of this schemati'ation ,ould re(eal that significant shifts in the causal structure as discernible in the narrati(e de(elo!ment ;shifts as narrati(e -de(ice. to accom!lish certain artistic ends-as in a formal no(el or story" or shifts as accom!anying the natural de(elo!ment of the narrati(e along a timeline-as in a tra(elogue< are accorded ma+imum significance% Since a descri!ti(e narrati(e tends to !roceed and de(elo! along a tem!oral se0uence" the element of chronology becomes" ipso facto" the factor ,hich -connects. the narrati(e% *n other ,ords" in a tra(el narrati(e that might ha(e a!!arently disconnected com!onents stre,n across 1 Martin Mc>uillan" The "arrative #eader ;outledge: 6ondon ? @e, Aor)" 2000<" !% BC-.D% multi!le geogra!hical !ositions ;li)e any @e, 8orld e+!loration narrati(e< the cohesi(e factor ,ould be the single narrati(e (oice" the (oice of the one ,ho tra(els" and of course that agency ,ould deri(e its authenticity from the fact of being !resent in the !laces described in the narrati(e% @ot,ithstanding the constantly-altering s!atial (ariables" then" the essential causality" sense of continuity is besto,ed by a consistent chronology% &airing together chronological !rogression and an increasing authenticity of the agency of the narrator should not be difficult to conce!tuali'e% *n o!!osition to other genres conscious of their literary status and ,here the reader e+!ects e+!eriments or sur!rises that are both thematic and structural" a descri!ti(e and to a large e+tent informati(e narrati(e li)e a tra(elogue !refers a straightfor,ard storytelling method in ,hich a first- !erson nature of e+!erience is customarily !rioriti'ed% E(en if the narrator is not al,ays e+!ected to generate ethno-cultural )no,ledge" at least s1he is su!!osed to communicate truthfully his1her o,n im!ression of certain locations that in reality e+ist" or that of certain e(ents encountered in those locations% #ue to this s!ecific as!ect of e+!eriential authenticity that is re0uired to be established in order to !ro(ide the element of trust as far as the reader.s a!!reciation of the tra(el-narrati(e is concerned the narrator has to negotiate his1her ,ay through t,o mutually e+clusi(e" albeit inter-reliant narrati(e o!tions% Those t,o o!tions are" to !ut it !erha!s in the most uncom!licated manner !ossible" t,o contrary ,riting-strategies" -namely sub2ecti(e and ob2ecti(e% An e+hausti(e discussion on these too-!olitici'ed terms ,ould only begin to re(eal layers of !reoccu!ations" su!!ositions" assum!tions" hy!otheses" !ostulations" and !robably most unfortunately cultural statements at ,or) here" ,hereby narrati(e ob2ecti(ity and sub2ecti(ity cease to remain distincti(e narrati(e styles and become" in the !rocess" !remeditated choices influenced by se(eral subsidiary factors ,hich are" not,ithstanding their ancillary status" far from insignificant% *ndeed it is ,orth remembering that an im!ressi(e amount of !ostcolonial theoretical (ocabulary has been generated from this basic binary and its im!lications% Since ob2ecti(ity and1or sub2ecti(ity on the narrati(e le(el are !rimarily acti(e choices on the !art of the narrator" the im!lications or effects are e0ually considered the -intended. fallout so far as the a!!reciation of the te+t is concerned% As for an illustrati(e e+am!le of the -im!ressi(e (ocabulary." it ,ould be useful to refer to a tern li)e -ocularcentric. 2 " coined and em!loyed by $ill Ashcroft in his $ostcolonial 2 $ill Ashcroft" $ost%Colonial Transformation ;outledge: 6ondon ? @e, Aor)" 2001<" !% 1E% Transformation or the highly !o!ular -!lanetary consciousness. 3 " coined as ,ell as analy'ed by Mary 6ouise &ratt in her mperial &yes' Travel (riting and Transculturation) $oth these terns in actuality describe ho, and to ,hat e+tent narrati(e ob2ecti(ity can be !olitically mani!ulated to (alidate a certain cultural !redis!osition and effecti(ely -!rogramme. the readers. res!onse to,ard the te+t% 9n the other hand" in mperial &yes &ratt has e0ually sho,n ho, sub2ecti(e in(ol(ement and1or sentimantali*ation of the narrator.s agency effecti(ely mani!ulate the readers. sym!athy" in the !rocess e+onerating the narrator from the onus of ;mis<re!resenting the -ob2ects under focus.% As more often than not these -ob2ects. ,ould be s!ecific cultural communities !olitici'ation does not remain any une+!ected interference% $ut for our !ur!ose im!lications of this reality on the strictly narrati(e- aesthetic le(el should be rele(ant and here is a famous e+am!le of ho, the ob2ecti(ity1sub2ecti(ity of the narrator.s (oice1a!!roach significantly influences the modes of !ercei(ing the te+t% :a!tain James :oo).s three 2ournals ;the last one remaining incom!lete" he died en route< traditionally furnish fine e+am!les of a categorically -ob2ecti(e. narrati(e" characteri'ed by almost 2ournalistic detachment and rational attitude% $ut if the follo,ing e+tract from his Endea(our 2ournal is ta)en into consideration" a different :oo)" as it ,ere" emerges: 5rom ,hat * ha(e said of the @ati(es F they may a!!ear to some to be the most ,retched &eo!le u!on Earth/ but in reality they are far more ha!!ier than ,e Euro!eans" being ,holy unac0uainted not only ,ith the Su!erfluous" but ,ith the necessary :on(eniences so much sought after in Euro!e/ they are ha!!y in not )no,ing the use of them% They li(e in a Tran0uility ,hich is not disturbed by the *ne0uality of :onditionFThis" in my o!inion" Argues that they thin) themsel(es !ro(ided ,ith all the necessarys of 6ife" and that they ha(e no Su!erfluities% G
E(en though the -attitude. that is 0uite e+!licit here has been (ariously censured as incurably romantic or uncharacteristic by none other than J% :% $eaglehole" the most successful biogra!her of :a!tain :oo)/ that formal 3 Mary 6ouise &ratt" mperial &yes' Travel (riting and Transculturation ;outledge: 6ondon ? @e, Aor)" 200D< &% 1E% G Captain Coo+,s -ournal During his .irst /oyage #ound the (orld Made in 0)M) 1ar+ 2&ndeavourH" 3456%43" &reface by 8%J%6 8harton" 6ondon" 1DI3" &ro2ect Jutenberg" 31D-1I" 1E th A!ril 200I Khtt!:11,,,%gutenberg%org1files1D10B1D10B-h1D10B-h%htmL% dis!aragement does not e(en remotely address the essential indecision of the narrator.s agency% The !oint of contention then" is" that e(en a genre li)e tra(elogue ,ith its !re(alently agreed u!on ob2ecti(e-descri!ti(e status does allo, moments of ,hat can be called -sub2ecti(e intrusion." thereby bringing it closer to the -mainstream. literary genres" the !oint of congruence being the o!!ortunity of mo(ing beyond the limitations im!osed by the tra(elogue.s obligation of ha(ing to stic) to strictly ,hat is directly being e+!erienced% To satisfactorily illustrate ,hat is meant by -!re(alently agreed u!on status of a tra(el narrati(e. it ,ould !ro(e useful to remember that a systematic study of it as a s!ecific genre ,ith !roblemati'ing sub-te+tual layers of significations began as late as the mid-nineties% This !iece of information should be !ondered )ee!ing in mind the fact that" as has already been !ointed out if only insufficiently" the archety!al status of the meta!hor of tra(el goes bac) to the da,n of fundamental !hiloso!hical-meta!hysical-theological schemes of &lato" &lotinus" Erigena or Augustine% *n fact" it is not academically difficult to trace the most recurrent thematic structures or mythemes in the great oeu(re of Eli'abethan" omantic" or Mictorian to the meta!hor of tra(el% 8hen there should not be any doubt about the essential rele(ance of the !ro!er analysis of the genesis" s!atial-cultural difference in the construction of" and the (aried im!lications of this meta!hor in di(erse ethnic communities along ,ith its manifold manifestations in cultural re!resentations" that cannot ha!!en ,ithout a more or less ser(iceable aesthetic% The ad2ecti(e -ser(iceable. may a!!ear rather gone astray but it nonetheless con2ures u! an image of a !racticable" functional" rational !rocess of elucidation that ,ould function as a useful model to enca!sulate re!resentational (ariations% To clarify the !oint" this aesthetic" or a set of rules" or e(en better" indicators that ,ould s!ell out the s!ecifics of the em!loyment of tra(el-meta!hor not,ithstanding the se!arate mediums of re!resentation"-literary or non-literary" !o!ular or academic% 8hat remains to be mentioned is !erha!s the difficulty in determining the !recise nature of this aesthetic/ and this indeed is a com!licated tas) since it must be an aesthetic that can !erfectly negotiate its ,ay through the mutually e+clusi(e !olarities of ob2ecti(ity and sub2ecti(ity% The sub2ecti(e as!ect ,ould" as it is a!!arent" deal ,ith the !ersonal dimension" the im!ression of the self" but !inning do,n the ob2ecti(e !art of it is e(en tric)ier% Since the ostensible geogra!hical -reality. that is su!!osed to be con(eyed by the narrati(e consists of the bi-a+ial construct of s!ace and time" it has to use this construct as the rudimentary !oint of reference or determination% 9ne s!ecific con(enience of em!loying this model is that ,hat is -ob2ecti(e. must remain so" because s!atial and tem!oral coordinates are !hysical in(ariables"- at least in the course of a narrati(e ,hich does not necessarily deal ,ith science-fiction fantasies of multi(erse or trans-dimensional ad(entures% This model should successfully address the !roblematic;s< that are fre0uently encountered in the critical a!!reciation of a tra(elogue: determining the logic of causal relation" e+!laining the functional and1or rhetorical !ur!ose of fulfilling or shattering e+!ectations" analysing the inter!lay of sub2ecti(ity and ob2ecti(ity" - to mention only a fe, of those challenges% 8hen all that is e+!lained" a recent de(elo!ment in this field needs to be mentioned% 5rench theorist Michel $urtor in his -6e (oyage et l.Ncriture. ;,hich translates -Tra(el and 8riting.< has !ro!osed a ne, field of study for this s!ecific !ur!ose" a disci!line he christens -iterologie." a -science of dis!lacements.% E *t is commonsensical to assume that this ,ould in(ol(e" along ,ith the issues of dis!lacement" those of em!lacement" and the e(entual dissolution of the -sense of -.!lace. along ,ith attendant issues of obser(ation" descri!tion" te+tuali'ation" onomastics and !olitics- all being !otent areas of study in the !ostcolonial or ethnogra!hical reading of a tra(el narrati(e% The only thing left to see is ,hether iterologie can indeed ,or) as that much- sought-after theoretical model of the aesthetic of tra(el narrati(e%
#iganta $hattacharya E 4ai Mi))onen" -The O@arrati(e is Tra(elP Meta!hor: $et,een S!atial Se0uence and 9!en :onse0uence." $ro7ect Muse8 &% E" 3 rd August 200D Khtt!:11muse%2hu%edu1loginQ uriR12ournals1narrati(e1(01E11E%3mi))onen%htmlL% Sources /onsulted 1% 4uhlenbec)" $ritta% #e%(riting 9patiality' The $roduction of 9pace in the $ilbara #egion in (estern Australia) @e, $runs,ic) and 6ondon: Transaction &ublishers" 200I% &rint% 2% :lifford" @icholas" Sarah 6 =ollo,ay" Ste!hen & ice and Jill Malentine eds) :ey concepts in geography) 6ondon: Sage &ublication" 2003% &rint% 3% So2a" Ed,ard% A% $ostmodern Geographies' The #eassertion of 9pace in Critical 9ocial Theory) 6ondon and @e, Aor): Merso" 1IDI% &rint% G% :oo)" James% /oyage To;ards the 9outh $ole and #ound the (orld8 /olume3% &ro2ect Jutenberg% Cth May 200E% B th Se!tember 200C% Khtt!:11,,,%gutenberg%org111E1C1C11ECCC1L% 8eb% E% Jreenblatt" Ste!hen) Marvelous $ossessions% 9+ford: :larendon &ress" 1IDD% &rint% B% &ratt" Mary 6ouise% mperial &yes' Travel (riting and Transculturation% @e, Aor): outledge" 200D% &rint% C% #ri(er" 5eli+% Geography Militant' Cultures of &<ploration and &mpire) 6ondon: 9+ford" 2001% &rint% D% Ashcroft" $ill% $ost%Colonial Transformation% 6ondon ? @e, Aor): outledge" 2001% &rint% I% Mi))onen" 4ai% -The ="arrative is Travel> Metaphor' 1et;een 9patial 9e?uence and Open Conse?uence) &ro2ect Muse% Khtt!:11muse%2hu%edu1loginQ uriR12ournals1narrati(e1(01E11E%3mi))onen%htmlL% 8eb%