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History, memory, and trauma in postcolonial travel writing
The postcolonial always involves an encounter with the past, and that encounter is perhaps nowhere more compelling than in travel writing. At stake in this encounter is the question of how the past inheres within the present, and how, in travel writing, the traveler, travelee, and reader are affected by and implicated in the persistence of the past. At its worst, postcolonial travel writing exploits nostalgic and sentimental versions of the past that legitimize the history of colonialism and reinforce social divisions that underlie the contemporary global order. Yet at its best, postcolonial travel writing bears witness to the enduring legacies of the past in ways that trouble contemporary certainties, and it performs the valuable political and moral work of reckoning with the past in the name of a just future.
History
Publication title
The Cambridge Companion to Postcolonial Travel WritingEditors
R ClarkePagination
49-62ISBN
9781316597712Department/School
School of HumanitiesPublisher
Cambridge University PressPlace of publication
CambridgeExtent
15Rights statement
Copyright 2018 Cambridge University PressRepository Status
- Restricted