Virtual Travel Experiences: What Do Iranian Children Learn through Reading Travel Literature?

Abstract

Virtual Travel Experiences:What Do Iranian Children Learn through Reading Travel Literature? Somayeh Sadat Hashemi (bio) and Narges Babaei (bio) Communication plays an important role in people's lives. Although advanced communication media are at the service of mankind, travel and journeys are still recognized as effective and attractive means of communication between different communities. Journeys are especially important for children in establishing communication and raising their level of social knowledge about the world around them. Traveling for children, in addition to being fascinating, can satisfy their curiosity about the world around them, helping them gain new experiences and answering their questions about the way of life of people in other lands. Children's literature includes travel literature. Anyone who reads about journeys can easily, without considering the cost of travel, road problems, and the difficulties and risks associated with travel, achieve all the experiences and knowledge that the author of the journey had on a particular trip. The most important aspect of travel literature is the preservation and recording of culture, history, geography, and events at the time of the journey. The reader cannot easily obtain all this information in any other type of writing, and children can gain moral, educational, religious, cultural, and historical knowledge through this kind of reading. Children's travel behavior varies from that of adults in several ways. They have less choice about where they go, and often they are not allowed to travel unescorted by an older person. The benefits of travel are endless—cultural experiences, savory flavors, breathtaking landscapes, new adventures, and tightened family bonds, just to name a few. Here are a few reasons why raising a kid who loves to travel will benefit their development: • Travel opens a child's mind. • It teaches new responsibilities. • It strengthens families. • It boosts school grades. • Children practice tolerance and acceptance. • Travel promotes socialization. • Children learn self-reliance and how to combat boredom. (Mackett) [End Page 89] Unfortunately, given the current state of the world, travel increases people's chances of getting and spreading COVID-19. As a result of the pandemic and recommendations regarding its control (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), there is less travel occurring. However, parents can use literature about journeys to boost children's imagination and increase their knowledge. This can also encourage children to read more. Due to the current state of the world as a result of the pandemic and the recommendations regarding its control (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), there is less travel occurring. Parents can use can use children's literature about journeys to boost children's imagination and increase their knowledge. This could also encourage children to read more. The first piece of travel children's literature in Iran was Jamshid and Mahshid Tourism (1953) by Abbas Yamini Sharif. However, it was not until the 2000s that travel children's literature grew in quantity and quality (Mohammadi). Travel literature can be a type of interdisciplinary literature that combines literature, history, geography, and sociology. It encompasses outdoor literature, guidebooks, nature writing, and travel memoirs. These books come in different styles, literary or journalistic, humorous or serious, and so on. They are often associated with tourism and include guidebooks. Some fictional travel stories are related to travel literature. Although it may be desirable in some contexts to distinguish fictional from nonfictional works, such distinctions have proved notoriously difficult to make in practice, as in the famous instance of the travel writings of Marco Polo or John Mandeville. Overall, though, journeys in children's travel literature can be divided into two categories: real journeys and imaginary journeys. In a real journey, the trip is done in reality and the author expresses his or her observations about and memories of the trip. In a fictional journey, the author does not travel but expresses his or her ideas and opinions in the form of a journey (Aghayari). In this section, descriptive and analytical information related to thirty-eight children's travel books published in Iran is reviewed. These books were either written in the Persian language or have been translated into Persian. Works that were originally authored in Persian represent the higher level of these resources, with 78...