English Travel Narratives in the Eighteenth Century: Exploring Genres

by Jean Viviès

Overview

The eighteenth century, commonly described as the age of the novel, is also the golden age of travel narratives. In this English edition of Le Récit de voyage en Angleterre au XVIIIe siècle, the genre of the travel narrative receives a treatment based on its development in close relationship with fiction. The book provides a survey of famous travel narratives: James Boswell's journal of a tour to Corsica and account of his trip to Scotland with Samuel Johnson, Laurence Sterne's enigmatic Sentimental Journey, Tobias Smollett's Travels through France and Italy. Negotiating between inventory and invention, these texts invite a reconsideration of conventional generic distinctions. They open up a literary space in which the full significance of the real and fictional journey motif can be explored.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781138256446
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	11/11/2016
Series:	Studies in Early Modern English Literature
Pages:	144
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.00(d)

Table of Contents

Contents: General editor's preface; Part I: Prefatory essay; Part II: Introduction; James Boswell and Samuel Johnson; Tobias Smollett: deciphering letters; Laurence Sterne: the voyage and its double; The vagaries of the picaresque; Conclusion: The travel narrative and literary criticism; Chronological landmarks; Bibliography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

'... a scholarly version of Alain de Botton's The Art of Travel...' ChoiceReviews 'Viviès's study [...] makes compelling reading, particularly in fostering the connection between travel writing and narrative theory.' Studies in Travel Writing 'English Travel Narratives will appeal to those interested in the novelistic genre as well as to eighteenth-century historians and scholars of early travel narratives. As part of the Studies in Early Modern English Literature Series, this book presents a provocative ensemble of works that interrogate the characteristics that define travel narratives versus those associated with a novel.' Libraries and Culture

From the Publisher