Travel Narratives Research Articles

Subversive Sketching: Intratextual Debate in British Accounts of China, 1797–1805

This article focuses on the intratextual relationship between written and visual representations within George Staunton’s and John Barrow’s travel narratives (1797 and 1804 respectively) and William Alexander’s pictorial volumes (1797 and 1805) to underscore the ambiguity undergirding Romantic-era appraisals of China. These competing depictions disrupt narratives – beginning in the mid-nineteenth century – that expunge equivocal representation to perpetuate false teleological narratives of Anglo-Sino relations, culminating in familiar orientalist models.

Comparative analysis of the Context of travel literature in Sanskrit and Nepali literature

Travel plays an important role in the human and non-human life. All living creatures of the world have an innate tendency of travel. It is also associated with the human civilization. By traveling different geographical, cultural, and historical sites one can learn unseen things and gain new experiences.There is a long tradition of travel literature or travel contexts in Sanskrit literature. There are many examples of travel narratives or travel related stories found in the ancient Sanskrit texts like Vedas, Puranas, Aitareya Bahmana, Kaushitaki Bahmana, Mahabharata, Ramayana, Panchatantra etc. Nepali literature has also been greatly influenced by the context of travel or travel literature of the Sanskrit literature. There have been many translations of Sanskrit epics in Nepali literature. The Sanskrit texts like Ramayana, Mahabharata and different kinds of Puranas, Vedas have been translated into Nepali in abundance, which has been discussed in this article and tried to clarify the relationship of Sanskrit literature with Nepali literature in the context of the travel and travel literature.

The Desert as an Inventarium

Abstract This article is about the symbolic representation of the wilderness motif in a selection of rabbinic travel tales, taking into consideration its representation in earlier Jewish writings. The article includes a selection of rabbinic travel narratives found in b. Baba Batra that concern the desert journeys of the remarkable rabbinic protagonist Rabba bar Bar Ḥanna. The hero of the stories is presented as viewing the giant dead bodies of the biblical tribes in the wilderness, Mount Sinai, and Korah and his people, all according to the sequence of biblical events in the books of Moses. Wilderness plays an integral role in these stories. While there is little interest in this motif in Palestinian rabbinic literature, wilderness plays a distinct role in the eschatological process according to the rabbinic theological speculations known from the Babylonian Talmud. According to the selected travel narratives, which all focus on the wilderness, several objects from the biblical past, as well as some items from the dawn of creation, which are designated to play an important role in the eschatological process, are stored there.

Travelling as Political Engagement Controvoglia: Alberto Moravia’s Voyages to China in 1937, 1967, and 1986

ABSTRACT Over a period of half a century, Alberto Moravia visited China three times, producing valuable travel accounts and completely different portrayals of the country, people, culture, and society. As a young reporter for Gazzetta del popolo in 1937, he narrated a dying civilisation facing internal wars and foreign interference. In 1967, he depicted the People’s Republic of China in the years of the Cultural Revolution and the so-called Maoist utopia. In 1986, Moravia produced a disillusioned account of post-Maoist industrial Chinese society. In this comparative study, I situate Alberto Moravia’s travels and his travel writings on China in the canonical production of knowledge on the country in relation to Italy’s intellectual background in three consecutive timeframes: 1930s, 1960s, and 1980s. I argue that Moravia’s travel narratives display a dialogue between the dominant rhetoric on China in each period and Moravia’s political engagement and worldview, themselves changing and evolving over time.

Performing the Promethean Self in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage III–IV and Cain

In Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage III–IV and Cain , Byron, as Nietzsche remarks, outlines an “übermenschlich” sense of Promethean identity in his confrontation of the tragedy of poetry. The travel narrative of Harold, the tragic history of Venice, and Cain’s pursuit of divine status each fictionalize a visionary mode in which Byron illustrates a fragmentary identity tortured by poetic achievement. The series of moral riddles on knowledge, poetry, and truth that Byron navigates in these poems move from the artistic sphere of his career to an existential discourse on whether Byron the Promethean poet can outdo mortality.

Gerhard Mercator as Sacred Geographer

Mercator’s Description of the Northern Lands (Septentrionalium terrarum descriptio), a map of the North Pole, appeared in his Atlas published in 1595. Despite returning to his research on magnetism and the geography of the Far North over the course of five decades, Mercator struggled to reconcile discrepancies in his data. This paper presents the various quantitative and qualitative methods Mercator used to grapple with uncertainty about the north, including relying on textual descriptions in historical travel narratives, comparing portolan charts and Ptolemaic maps, consulting studies by his contemporaries, and compiling compass readings. Although Mercator’s exploration of multiple approaches did not yield the geographic or magnetic certainty he sought, he designed a map that projected certitude. This paper argues that in the absence of geographical information and clarity about magnetism and the geography of the north, Mercator turned to theological reasoning to form a hypothesis about the North Pole as Paradise. It shows, too, that Mercator’s dual aim of describing both the physical and the sacred landscape of the Far North was gradually erased by his successors, thus obscuring the fact that his religious worldview informed his understanding and mapping of the Far North.

Cb-WoFS: Migrating the Warn-on-Forecast System to the Cloud

Abstract This article provides a brief, technical narrative of the WoFS journey to a cloud-based high-performance computing (HPC) system, including some of the technological challenges encountered and solutions found. Also, discussed are a few new components that are in development for cloud-based Warn-on-Forecast System (cb-WoFS), such as the cloud infrastructure project for managing resources, as well as a new web application that manages cb-WoFS runs. An important initial step in our cloud journey is containerizing all of the compiled applications, such as WRF, GSI, and EnKF and their dependencies like netCDF and MPI. With these applications compiled within an Apptainer container, WoFS can run on any local or cloud-based HPC cluster that supports MPI. Furthermore, an additional software layer was developed that creates and manages cloud vendor resources. This layer, which is referred to as the WoFS framework, contains the workflow required to run cb-WoFS, as well as management for other aspects of cb-WoFS (including but not limited to creation of HPC pools in the end-to-end workflow, runtime notifications, and database management). This additional layer was developed to separate the WoFS business logic from vendor-specific API calls. The WoFS framework exposes features through its service library, which is then referenced by the newly developed cb-WoFS web application and other cloud applications. This makes WoFS a complete end-to-end cloud-based application, where an administrator can launch a model run, manage resources, and view output all within a single web app.

Narrative Accounts of Youth and Their Mothers With Chronic Headache: Application of a Socio-narratology Framework to Pain Narratives.

This study was the first to apply a socio-narratology framework to the narratives about child pain as told by youth with chronic pain and their parents, all of whom experience chronic headaches. Storytelling is a powerful social transaction that occurs within systems (eg, families, clinical encounters) and is both shaped by, and can shape, the pain experience. Narrative can be harnessed as a clinical tool to aid in the ability to listen, understand, and improve clinical encounters. Twenty-six youth (aged 11 to 18y) and their mothers, both with chronic headaches, recruited from a tertiary level pediatric pain clinic separately completed in-depth interviews about children's pain journey narratives. Data were analyzed using narrative analysis, which incorporated elements of socio-narratology to compare similarities and differences between and within dyads' narratives. Five narrative types were generated: (1) The trauma origin story-parents, but not youth, positing traumatic events as the causal link to children's pain; (2) mistreated by the medical system-neglect, harm, and broken promises resulting in learned hopelessness or relying on the family system; (3) the invalidated-invalidation of pain permeated youth's lives, with mothers as empathic buffers; (4) washed away by the pain-challenges perceived as insurmountable and letting the pain take over; and (5) taking power back from pain-youth's ability to live life and accomplish goals despite the pain. Findings support the clinical utility of narrative in pediatric pain, including both parents' and youths' narrative accounts to improve clinical encounters and cocreate more youth-centred, empowering narratives.

Garden Travelogues

In this article I introduce the alien view of the traveller, the view from outside, as presented in a number of travel narratives describing the type of the domestic enclosed garden in Nicosia. I focus on three books published between the fourteenth and twentieth century, and do a comparative analysis of the narratives based on the information they provide about Nicosian gardens. I investigate how this knowledge can be used to develop design strategies for gardens as a typology in architectural and urban design. As a demonstration, I discuss the project ‘Nicosian Garden Network’, which uses the historically iconic element of the garden and its narrated spatial qualities as an answer to the problem of urban fragmentation and the presence of a large number of unused plots in the city of Nicosia. The project incorporates unused sites of different sizes into a network of shared semi-public urban spaces that could reconnect the landscape, create conditions of sharing by the different communities on a daily basis, and regain its iconic presence in the contemporary city. The article aims to contribute to the discussion about ways in which travelogues, guides and other forms of travel literature can construct a field of knowledge about vernacular architecture and implement contemporary approaches to architectural design.

Imaginary Geography of Children’s Books: Adding One More Dimension

This review paper explores the 2022 collection Storybook Worlds Made Real: Essays on the Places Inspired by Children’s Narratives, edited by Kathy Merlock Jackson and Mark I. West. The 18 chapters of the collection cover a range of theme parks and literary playgrounds related to children’s literature, spanning Europe, America, and, to a lesser extent, Asia. The chapters combine historical and theoretical approaches with detailed descriptions of the parks and engaging first-person travel narratives. Inspired by diverse book characters – from German fairy-tale gnomes through Peter Rabbit and Alice to Pippi Longstocking, Moomins, and ubiquitous Harry Potter – numerous theme parks became a fertile ground for discussing many important topics, including children’s imagination, reading encouragement, authenticity, simulation, commercialisation, Americanisation, Disneyfication, and Pottermania.

DIGITALISATION AS A MARKETING MANAGEMENT TOOL IN THE TOURISM INDUSTRY

This article explores the concept of digitalisation and its impact on marketing management in the tourism industry. The study examines the evolution of digitalisation from its origins in the 1960s and 1970s to its current role in the economy, with a particular focus on the tourism sector. Objective of the research. The aim is to explain the multifaceted nature of digitalisation and highlight its importance as a transformative force in the tourism industry. The study aims to demonstrate how digitalisation fosters innovation, increases operational efficiency and creates personalised and interactive experiences for consumers. It seeks to provide a clear understanding of how digital tools and technologies can be strategically integrated into marketing practices to improve business results and customer satisfaction. Research methodology. The study employs a comprehensive literature review, in which the various definitions and interpretations of digitalisation proposed by renowned scholars are subjected to analysis. Furthermore, case studies and practical applications of digital technologies, including Big Data, blockchain, artificial intelligence, mobile applications, virtualisation technologies, and the Internet of Things (IoT) in the tourism industry, are also considered. A comparative analysis is applied to identify the most informative and widely recognised definitions of digitalisation, with particular emphasis on the definition proposed by Laudon and Laudon (2019) due to its clarity and comprehensiveness. Research results. The findings indicate that digitalisation is a critical catalyst for rewriting the travel narrative for consumers, transforming destinations into dynamic, interactive, and responsive ecosystems. The incorporation of digital technologies within the tourism sector not only optimises operational efficiency but also markedly enhances the customer experience. The implementation of personalised marketing, the utilisation of AI-based customer service tools and the application of predictive analytics have been identified as key benefits. However, the study also identifies challenges associated with data privacy, integration with existing systems, and the necessity for continuous adaptation and improvement of CRM strategies to align with evolving customer expectations. Practical implications. Digitalisation opens up significant opportunities for the tourism industry to innovate and maintain competitive advantage in a rapidly changing market environment.

’Gypsies’, Natural Monogamy, and Violence Full of Love

The paper examines modern knowledge about non-human primates in Czech travel narratives concerning Africa and biological journals from the late nineteenth century to the end of the interwar period. Particular attention is given to the way discourse on primates and anthropological discourse mutually influenced each other. Inspired by the intersection of human – animal studies, critical race theory, and gender studies, the paper emphasizes the anthropomorphizing character of biological discourse and popular travel narratives. At the time, presentations of primates created a specific anthropological resource and, in addition, helped to naturalize the dominant racial and gender ideologies. In the context of the Austrian–Hungarian and Czechoslovakian relative inability to obtain colonial possessions in the way western powers did, the representations of anthropomorphized non-human primates can also be interpreted as a specific field where Czech colonial fantasies about dominance were expressed.

Exploring the Pathways to Diagnosis for Men With Borderline Personality Disorder: A Qualitative Study.

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is often perceived as being more common in females, since women are more likely to seek help and be diagnosed. However, epidemiological studies have reported no sex differences in community prevalence. The purpose of this study was to learn from the narrative journeys of men who have received a diagnosis of BPD. Eight men participated, mean age 45.9 years (range 27-73 years). Recruitment was through clinician referrals at the study site and via social media and website advertising. Participants consented to a 60-90-min semi-structured interview via an audio-visual digital platform. Audio recordings were transcribed and analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Three themes were identified: (i) The Emergence of Symptoms, (ii) Reaching Crisis Point and (iii) Receiving a Diagnosis. Participants reported many adverse experiences during childhood and adolescence. Early symptoms were often exacerbated by emotionally invalidating caregiving. Participants reported seeking mental health support only after reaching a crisis point, which often arose following an employment-related stressor. Participants typically initiated help-seeking by consulting a General Practitioner. Long delays were reported from initial help-seeking to being diagnosed with BPD; all expressed relief upon diagnosis. The findings highlight the deleterious consequences of emotional invalidation in participants' mental health and their capacity to access timely support. General Practitioners play a critical role in identifying probable symptoms of BPD in men and are the gateway to referral to psychiatrists and psychologists. It is vital that education is provided to assist their important work.

Designing a Modern Self: The English Travels of Pandita Ramabai and Krishnabhabini Das

In 1882, Krishnabhabini Das travelled to England and wrote a travelogue, Englandey Bangamahila (A Bengali Lady in England) in Bengali. A year later in 1883, Pandita Ramabai also travelled to England and wrote a letter in Marathi describing her travel experiences, which was later published as Englandcha Pravas (Travel to England). This article reads the two travel accounts together and in relation to one another aiming to compare and juxtapose their differing and at times overlapping navigations and negotiations with the West in an attempt to understand the early expression of gendered subjectivities via narratives of travel at a time when both travel and writing by women were discouraged, if not proscribed. With a focus on two related aspects—(1) the textual construction of the ‘self’ and (2) the trope of the reverse female gaze on the West—the paper argues that these travel writings produce as they record the making of distinct modern female subjectivities at the end of the nineteenth century.

A qualitative exploration of the patient journey in axial spondyloarthritis towards a people-centered understanding

This exploratory qualitative study aims to gain a people-centered understanding of the patient journey in axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 individuals diagnosed with axSpA, aged 18 years and older, who were purposively recruited from a rheumatologic practice in southern Germany. The interviews were carried out as web-based video calls between September and October 2021, audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed according to Kuckartz’s qualitative content analysis. Patient journey narratives encompassed both healthcare journeys and personal journeys. Healthcare journeys were characterized as fragmented and difficult to navigate, with diagnosis often marking a turning point toward more coordinated care. Post-diagnosis, new challenges emerged (e.g., time management for treatment). Personal journeys comprised perceptions of axSpA in social contexts (e.g., stigmatization) and the continuous interplay of comorbidities and biographical events with healthcare related to axSpA. This study proposes a people-centered perspective on the patient journey in axSpA, emphasizing the interplay of biographies, comorbidities, and social context with healthcare events. Recognizing these personal factors in clinical practice is encouraged to address complex health needs and tailor treatment to each individual. Further efforts should promote collaboration between medical disciplines and integrate healthcare and social support at all stages of the axSpA patient journey.

The Unraveling Anthropocene: Exploring Murky Geographies

Many markers have been proposed for the onset of the Anthropocene. One possibility, anthroturbation, involves humankind’s excavation of tunnels, mines, and boreholes—the trace fossils of our civilization. This article explores the potential for anthropogenic sandstone caves to help refine the concept of the Subterranean Anthropocene in terms of anthroturbation. In friable sandstones such as the St. Peter Sandstone of the American Midwest, anthroturbation triggers runaway natural processes analogous to that of anthropogenic greenhouse gases which trigger uncontrollable warming in the atmosphere. Using Levi-Strauss’ A World on the Wane to contextualize the geology, and drawing from autoethnography, murky psychogeography, and the embodied experience of historical travel narratives, I propose a critical interdisciplinary framework for thinking about the Subterranean Anthropocene in terms of anthroturbation, emphasizing the role of dynamic processes and unraveling, rather than static markers.

“I will find the best method that will work for me”: navigating contraceptive journeys amongst South African adolescent girls and young women

BackgroundGiven that South Africa has one of the highest rates of pregnancy amongst adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) globally, the provision of contraceptives to this group has been a key focus in recent years. Pregnancy prevention involves an on-going continuum of decision-making around contraceptive method choice, uptake, use, experience, continuation, and discontinuation.MethodsThis paper presents analysis of data from a cross-sectional survey with 2376 AGYW, as well as qualitative in-depth interviews (IDIs) with 54 AGYW, inclusive of contraceptive journey narratives. We examine the preferences, valued characteristics, choices, beliefs, understandings and experiences of choosing and using contraceptives amongst AGYW in two South African communities characterised by high rates of pregnancy.ResultsThese findings shed light on the preferences towards, beliefs about, and experiences of choosing, using and discontinuing contraceptive methods amongst this population, with survey data suggesting that the most popular methods were the injection, followed by the implant, and then the oral pill. Findings illustrate the complexity and dynamic nature of contraceptive decision-making and the varied embodied and lived experiences of contraceptive use, and how these are impacted by contraception service provision.ConclusionsOur findings show that contraception experiences of each individual are cumulative, and comprise a continuum of method initiation, use, discontinuation, method switching and on-going circular decision-making influenced by multiple social, structural, contextual and interpersonal factors, combined with shifting preferences, values and needs. To maximise the use of contraceptives amongst South African AGYW, it is necessary to provide responsive contraception service provision to reflect the changing contexts and preferences of users, in order to ensure that pregnancy prevention needs are catered for throughout their reproductive life course.

Narrating the Desert: The Sublime and Desert Experiences in V. Muzafer Ahamed’s Camels in the Sky

Abstract This essay studies the travel narrative Camels in the Sky: Travels in Arabia by V. Muzafer Ahamed. The book narrativizes the author’s extensive explorations of the desert spaces in Saudi Arabia where he worked as a newspaper reporter for 13 years. This desert writing, arguably the first of its kind by a writer from the southern Indian state of Kerala, registers a wide range of emotions including desire, excitement, wonder, and fear as the author traverses the unfamiliar terrain. The desert, in Ahamed’s narrative, is not an essentialized ecological enclosure, but rather a politicized naturecultural space infected by human interventionist presences. The sublime is a visceral experience in Ahamed’s text as he negotiates the imbrication of beauty and precarity in the desert. In the concluding section, the essay argues that sublime feelings have the potential to evoke environmental humility and foster non-anthropocentric awareness, both of which are crucial for the sustainability of our endangered planet. Considering the critical decline in interest in the sublime, as contended by Emily Brady, this essay seeks to re-engage with the trope to make a case for its continued relevance.

Nature’s Wit in Motion: Eco-Consciousness in Bryson’s ‘The Lost Continent’

Travelling is an art form – a fascinating one, indeed. The human history and civilisation can be perceived as a collection of travel narratives to different places. Since antiquity, man has travelled to explore places, culture, life and his own self. This paper aims to assess Bill Bryson’s travelogue, ‘The Lost Continent’ from the ecocritical point of view. The objectives are to examine the various ways through which ecological concerns are expressed by the author in his journey through the 38 states of USA. The author’s writing style including the frequent use of wit and humour to highlight the astronomically-increasing ecological crisis makes the narrative engaging and his concerns valid. To study these objectives, this paper uses the research methodology of eco-consciousness which not only aims at creating environmental awareness among people but also considers the socio- political implications of human activities on nature and mankind.

CROSS-WORLD NARRATIVES AND TRAVELS: RECONSTRUCTING THE HISTORY OF EARLY SYRIAN-AMERICAN IMMIGRANTS

Narratives of travel are part of world literature and cultural history. Scholarly research on migrant narratives and literature is a subfield of intercultural studies and comparative literature which allow cultures to bond and interact. Written histories of Arab Americans start with the Foundational Period (1880-1920) which revolves around the early immigrants from Historical Syria. This period is one of the least documented eras which is still difficult to reconstruct due to its many gaps and various obstacles. This paper examines the strategies and approaches used by Philip Hitti, the founder of Arabic Studies in the United States, who established the master models and approaches for the study of the Syro-Lebanese immigrant community. This model is based on locating alternative sources that include ̶ in addition to official sources and written accounts ̶ folksongs, literary texts, popular stories, and personal memories. It makes use of them to reconstruct the history of this community, which is characterized by its rich popular culture and long tradition of story-telling. There may be polemics and prejudices in presenting the wealth of the oral and cultural tradition of Historical Syria’s communities in the mainstream popular and official narratives about Arabs and Muslims. When presented with scholarly research and comparative perspectives, immigrants’ narratives can have a valuable contribution to world literature on immigration.