Bücher von Kathryn Walchester

The volume draws on the concept of the 'keyword' as initially elaborated by Raymond Williams in his seminal 1976 text, 'Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society', in order to present 100 concepts central to the study of travel writing as a literary form with cross-disciplinary implications. The significance of travel, the possibilities it holds for the individual and the impact it has upon our own society and those across the globe are debates that we encounter daily in the popular press and that have come sharply into focus in recent years at times of social, political, economic and humanitarian crises. In its attention to the 'keywords of travel', this volume responds to what might be described as the 'mobility turn' in the arts and humanities over the past two decades. Travel writing has become a significant field of academic study across the humanities and social sciences, yet it is only in recent decades that it has been recognised as a serious area of enquiry and that the texts of travel have gained the status of important literary and cultural documents. At the same time, the volume acknowledges the way in which the notion of 'keywords' is being revised and considered in the academic community and more widely by other cultural stakeholders including museums and galleries. In terms of the keywords listed, whilst there is a marked absence of terms evoking ideas of travel and mobility in Williams's original work, there is a notable emergence of travel-related terminology in recent publications that indicates the significance of keywords such as 'diaspora', 'tourism' and 'place'. In its attention to the 'keywords of travel', this volume takes into account the established status of studies in travel writing and the field's significance for an audience beyond the academy. It responds to what might be described as the 'mobility turn' in the arts and humanities over the past two decades. Each entry is around 1,000 words, and the style is more essayistic than encyclopaedic, with contributors providing a reflection on their chosen keyword from a variety of disciplinary perspectives. There is an emphasis on travelogues and other cultural representations of mobility drawn from a range of national and linguistic traditions, ensuring that the volume has a comparative dimension; the aim is to give an overview of each term in its historical and theoretical complexity, providing readers with a clear sense of how the words selected are essential to a critical understanding of travel writing. Each entry is complemented by an annotated bibliography of five essential items suggesting further reading.

'Gamle Norge and Nineteenth-Century British Women Travellers in Norway' provides the first overview of the contribution of women writers to the significant body of nineteenth-century British writing about Norway. At once discursive and descriptive, and often containing practical advice specific to female travellers, the travelogue was the principal form of travel writing used by women during this period. Walchester reviews the ways in which female writers adapted this form, as well as fictional representations, to describe their experiences and to challenge their male precursors by offering new perspectives on the region and its history. The nature of travel to and writing about Norway changed considerably during the nineteenth century, with both cultural and material consequences. Norway was a challenging destination before the introduction of reliable steam ship connections, better accommodation and improved railway lines enabled female tourists to travel in large groups. Tracing the journeys and motivations of various groups of women travellers such as sportswomen, tourists and aristocrats, this book argues that in their writing, Norway forms a counterpoint to Victorian Britain: a place of freedom and possibility.