The Modernist Traveler

The Modernist Traveler considers figures whose writing about travel rebelled against a literary tradition of exoticism, adventure stories, and novelistic travelogues. Instead these writers initiated a modernist strain in travel writing and a shift in the literary establishment and the culture at large. Kimberley J. Healey focuses on those French writers and thinkers who traveled in order to experience a displacement of both the inner self and the physical body while writing against the prevalent tradition of travel literature. ø The modern self, modern time, colonial spaces, and the physical body are Healey?s concerns as she reads works by Victor Segalen, Paul Morand, Blaise Cendrars, Henri Michaux, Saint-John Perse, Guillaume Apollinaire, Paul Nizan, Albert Londres, Andre Malraux, Valäry Larbaud, and Isabelle Eberhardt. This book shows how, in the field of French literature, these texts about travel best capture the modernist experience of being alone in a world of new technologies, cultural diversity, and anxiety about the self.

Through close readings of works from Henry James to W. E. B. Du Bois, and from Virginia Woolf to Jean Rhys, this book discusses how fictional travelers negotiate and adapt various tropes of travel (such as quest, expatriation, displacement, and exile) as models for their own journeys. Specifically, Peat considers the ethical dimensions of modernist travel from two distinct vantages. The first focuses on the relationship between the secular and the sacred in modernist travel literature, arguing that the recurrent narrative of secular travel is haunted by a desire for spiritual transcendence. The second posits modernist travel fiction as a potentially positive example of transcultural relations, consciously arguing against the received notion that travel during an imperial era is always by nature itself imperialist. Throughout, particular attention is paid to the transnational nature of modernism and the various global flows traced by modernist literature.

As the study of travel writing has grown in recent years, scholars have largely ignored the literature of modernist writers. Modernist Travel Writing: Intellectuals Abroad, by David Farley, addresses this gap by examining the ways in which a number of writers employed the techniques and stylistic innovations of modernism in their travel narratives to variously engage the political, social, and cultural milieu of the years between the world wars. Modernist Travel Writing argues that the travel book is a crucial genre for understanding the development of modernism in the years between the wars, despite the established view that travel writing during the interwar period was largely an escapist genre—one in which writers hearkened back to the realism of nineteenth-century literature in order to avoid interwar anxiety. Farley analyzes works that exist on the margins of modernism, generically and geographically, works that have yet to receive the critical attention they deserve, partly due to their classification as travel narratives and partly because of their complex modernist styles. The book begins by examining the ways that travel and the emergent travel regulations in the wake of the First World War helped shape Ezra Pound’s Cantos. From there, it goes on to examine E. E. Cummings’s frustrated attempts to navigate the “unworld” of Soviet Russia in his book Eimi,Wyndham Lewis’s satiric journey through colonial Morocco in Filibusters in Barbary,and Rebecca West’s urgent efforts to make sense of the fractious Balkan states in Black Lamb and Grey Falcon. These modernist writers traveled to countries that experienced most directly the tumult of revolution, the effects of empire, and the upheaval of war during the years between World War I and World War II. Farley’s study focuses on the question of what constitutes “evidence” for Pound, Lewis, Cummings, and West as they establish their authority as eyewitnesses, translate what they see for an audience back home, and attempt to make sense of a transformed and transforming modern world. Modernist Travel Writing makes an original contribution to the study of literary modernism while taking a distinctive look at a unique subset within the growing field of travel writing studies. David Farley’s work will be of interest to students and teachers in both of these fields as well as to early-twentieth-century literary historians and general enthusiasts of modernist studies.

Focusing on the significance of travel in Joseph Conrad, E.M. Forster, D.H. Lawrence, Henry James, and Edith Wharton, Robert Burden shows how travel enabled a new consciousness of mobility and borders during the modernist period. For these authors, Burden suggests, travel becomes a narrative paradigm and dominant trope by which they explore questions of identity and otherness related to deep-seated concerns with the crisis of national cultural identity. He pays particular attention to the important distinction between travel and tourism, at the same time that he attends to the slippage between seeing and sightseeing, between the local character and the stereotype, between art and kitsch, and between older and newer ways of storytelling in the representational crisis of modernism. Burden argues that the greater awareness of cultural difference that characterizes both the travel writing and fiction of these expatriate writers became a defining feature of literary modernism, resulting in a consciousness of cultural difference that challenged the ethnographic project of empire.

"Paris for Every Traveler: Customized Travel Itineraries for Modern Explorers" is the ultimate guide to exploring the City of Light like never before! Written by Shailey Xander, a seasoned traveler and expert on all things Paris, this book is filled with customized travel itineraries for a variety of different types of travelers. Whether you're looking for an adventurous and fun holiday, a cultural experience, a relaxing getaway, a romantic holiday or a family-friendly vacation, this book has got you covered. With detailed and easy to follow itineraries, you'll be able to make the most of your time in Paris and see all the top sights and hidden gems the city has to offer. Shailey Xander not only provides you with the best travel itineraries, but also she walks you through the city's rich history, culture and climate. You'll learn about the best places to eat, drink and relax, as well as fun activities to do with your family or loved ones. With "Paris for Every Traveler", you'll be able to create your own personalized adventure in the city, whether you're a first-time visitor or a seasoned traveler. So pack your bags and get ready for an unforgettable journey in the City of Lights, with Shailey Xander as your trusted guide!

"London for Every Traveler: Customized Travel Itineraries for Modern Explorers" written by Shailey Xander is the perfect guidebook for anyone looking to explore the vibrant city of London. The book offers a wide range of customized travel itineraries for different types of travelers, from adventure-seekers to culture enthusiasts, and even families and romantic couples. The author, Shailey Xander, is a seasoned traveler and a London local, and she brings her extensive knowledge and passion for the city to the book. She takes readers on a journey through London's most popular spots, as well as hidden gems that are off the beaten path. Each itinerary is packed with insider tips and recommendations, making it easy for travelers to make the most out of their trip. One of the highlights of the book is the various one, three and five day itineraries for different types of travelers. For example, the adventure-seekers can enjoy a one-day itinerary that includes a visit to the Harry Potter Studio Tour, a stroll through Camden Market and dinner at a traditional pub, while the culture enthusiasts can enjoy a three-day itinerary that includes visits to the British Museum, the London Transport Museum and a West End show. The book also includes detailed information on London's history, culture, and climate, making it a valuable resource for any traveler. The author's writing style is fun, engaging and easy to read, making it a perfect companion for any trip to London. Overall, "London for Every Traveler: Customized Travel Itineraries for Modern Explorers" is an essential guidebook for anyone planning a trip to London. It offers a wealth of information and customized itineraries that cater to different types of travelers, making it easy for readers to plan an unforgettable holiday in one of the world's most iconic cities.

Early modern Europe was obsessed with borders and travel. It found, imagined and manufactured new borders for its travellers to cross. It celebrated and feared borders as places or states where meanings were charged and changed. In early modern Europe crossing a border could take many forms; sailing to the Americas, visiting a hospital or taking a trip through London's sewage system. Borders were places that people lived on, through and against. Some were temporary, like illness, while others claimed to be absolute, like that between the civilized world and the savage, but, as the chapters in this volume show, to cross any of them was an exciting, anxious and often a potentially dangerous act. Providing a trans-European interdisciplinary approach, the collection focuses on three particular aspects of travel and borders: change, status and function. To travel was to change, not only humans but texts, words, goods and money were all in motion at this time, having a profound influence on cultures, societies and individuals within Europe and beyond. Likewise, status was not a fixed commodity and the meaning and appearance of borders varied and could simultaneously be regarded as hostile and welcoming, restrictive and opportunistic, according to one's personal viewpoint. The volume also emphasizes the fact that borders always serve multiple functions, empowering and oppressing, protecting and threatening in equal measure. By using these three concepts as measures by which to explore a variety of subjects, Borders and Travellers in Early Modern Europe provides a fascinating new perspective from which to re-assess the way in which early modern Europeans viewed themselves, their neighbours and the wider world with which they were increasingly interacting.