Travel Writing
The best travel writing transports readers
to other countries, offering insights into the history, culture and society of exotic
places and revealing new aspects of familiar destinations. The romanticism of
travel is one of the fundamental reasons people read travel writing, and the
possibilities for adventure, mystery and personal renewal when travelling are
all fundamental tropes of the genre. Indeed, these tropes are so common they
have become clichés, but the finest travel writers manage to transcend them. With its
mixture of first-person perspective, reportage, and cultural commentary, as
well as its incredibly broad remit, it is far more difficult than it may first
appear to come up with quality travel writing. What works and what doesn’t work depends on many factors, as the best
travel essays and books make apparent. Travel writing is an ancient genre of
literature, although the original practitioners would not have considered
themselves travel writers. They were chronicling the boundaries of the known world, or reporting
on life on the fringes of their culture. Texts such as the Roman author Pausanias' Description of Greece in the 2nd century CE were works of cultural
reportage, which painted a forensic picture of a country for the benefit of
those back home. The
genre was popular in medieval China, where it often included topographical information
about the far-flung regions of the Chinese empire. It was also interwoven with the idea of
pilgrimage, which is evident in works such as Great Tang Records on the Western Regions, a record of a Buddhist monk’s
journey from China to India. In Western Europe travel writing blossomed during the 19th century,
partly due to the widespread obsession with exploration and empire. The most
famous authors of this period were often travel writers, although the genre occasionally
overlapped with records of battles, anthropology or naturalism. In the 20th century travel
writing came into its own as a separate genre of literature, particularly as
more people, mainly from developed countries, started to embark on their own
travels. The
growth of the guide book industry, where a more prosaic overview of a given
country could be found, allowed the genre of travel writing to expand
stylistically, and venture into more journalistic, humorous and even novelistic
territory. Many
of the most famous 20th century travel writers were actually novelists, including Graham
Greene, Paul Theroux, Bruce Chatwin, Paul Bowles and Pearl S. Buck, whilst
novelists such as Hemingway and D. H. Lawrence did occasional pieces of travel
writing. As the genre developed over the course of that century, it moved
away from the imperialistic and patronising tone of previous Western writers, and
towards a more nuanced portrayal of cultures around the world. So what makes a great piece of travel
writing? The best travel writing surprises and enthrals in equal measure, and
requires a deft hand to ensure that the writer’s observations are not too
laboured or too general. Travel writer Andy Pietrasik recommends focusing ‘on something
specific – a detail, an observation, or a meeting – that can then be used to
make a wider point about the location’. This allows for more
flexibility in terms of structure, since as Pietrasik states, a straightforward
chronological narrative can be a ‘predictable and clunky device’. A linear
chronological narrative can, despite the best intentions, sometimes appear as
nothing more than a series of diary entries.This is emphasised by Mike
Carter, a freelance travel writer, who says that, ‘a good technique is to drop
the reader into the middle of the action. Think about a stand-out encounter in
your journey, something exhilarating, frightening, funny, or just plain odd.’ Playing with
time and highlighting the unexpected can keep travel writing interesting,
whilst avoiding the mundane
and the boring – which is part of every travel experience – is also key. Equally important, in this globalised age, is the question of what there
is to say that is new about most destinations. As renowned writer Pico Iyer
affirms, ‘Always begin by asking yourself what you have to bring to the Taj
Mahal or the Grand Canyon or Venice that no one has brought before. What is
particular about your experience and background and interests that will allow
you to see and describe things that most of the rest of us could never see?' A further
characteristic of the best travel writing is research. If a writer is culturally or politically ignorant about their
topic it becomes immediately apparent. The best travel writing avoids this through undertaking comprehensive
research and ensuring that where a writer is unable to fill a gap in his or her
knowledge, local expertise is used. As travel writing expert Vicky Baker suggests,
‘travel writing doesn't begin the moment your fingers hit the keyboard. Do your
research; consider changing your itinerary to visit somewhere that makes a
better story; and, most importantly, talk to people.’ This is evident in classic works such as Arabian Sands by Wilfred Thesiger, which traces his exploration of
the Empty Quarter, a barren and desolate part of the Arabian Desert populated only by nomads. For writer Tahir Shah,
this book was transformative, he states; “As I came to the last page, I knew
that the course of my life had been altered.’ What sets Thesiger’s work apart,
and what Tahir Shah found so appealing about it, is the wealth of knowledge
that Thesiger brings to the description of a place so few visit, which was
informed by his time with the Bedouin of Rub' al Khali. Shah calls Thesiger’s
work ‘a treasury of wisdom’. Like all of the best travel writing, it combines
erudition with curiosity, and expands the boundaries of the reader’s world.
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