Abstract
Travel writing faces a generic paradox: even though it has a long and rich tradition, it seems to lack theoretical legitimacy. Critics tend to undervalue travel writing by describing it as a hybrid genre, and analyse it with the concepts and theories that have been forged for other types of narratives. The aim of this article is to think through the possibilities of travel writing's theoretical autonomy. Calling upon formalist thinkers, first the récit de voyage is theorised as a ‘pole of writing’, as opposed to a mix of genres. Then it is described in a tripartite structure of ‘mode’, ‘genre’ and ‘form’, which revitalises the concept of a ‘peripatetic mode’, in order to provide this genre with some conceptual tools adequate to its analysis. Several illustrations are used for that purpose, but close attention is paid to the work of the contemporary French travel writer Jean Rolin.
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