tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13769276545324302952024-03-14T16:05:54.139+13:00Travel Writing Course139.326: College of Humanities and Social Sciences - School of Humanities, Media and Creative Communication - Massey University (2007-2021)Dr Jack Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01077200107415470747noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1376927654532430295.post-83142289835106448812013-10-23T11:21:00.000+13:002020-07-16T16:37:46.058+12:00Site-map<div align="center">
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<span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://mairangibay.blogspot.com/2006/08/5-rafthouse.html">On the River Kwai</a> (2002)</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: 130%;">139.326:</span><br /><span style="font-size: 180%;">Travel Writing</span></div></b><br />
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<span style="font-size: 130%;"><br /><b>Administration:</b></span><br />
<ul><br />
<li><a href="http://albany139326.blogspot.com/2013/10/welcome.html">Welcome</a></li>
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<li><a href="http://albany139326.blogspot.com/2013/10/course-timetable.html">Course Timetable</a></li>
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<li><a href="http://albany139326.blogspot.com/2013/10/course-requirements.html">Course Requirements</a></li>
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<li><a href="http://albany139326.blogspot.com/2013/10/course-description.html">Course Description</a></li>
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<li><a href="http://albany139326.blogspot.com/2013/10/bibliography.html">Bibliography</a></li>
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<li><a href="http://albany139326.blogspot.com/2013/10/assignments.html">Assignments</a></li>
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<li><a href="http://albany139326.blogspot.co.nz/2013/10/close-reading.html">Assignment 1: Close Reading</a></li>
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<li><a href="https://albany139326.blogspot.com/2013/10/local-travel-assignment.html">Assignment 2: Local Travel Piece</a></li>
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<li><a href="http://albany139326.blogspot.co.nz/2013/10/final-project.html">Assignment 3: Final Project</a></li>
</ul>
</ul>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBVWnXHEWN2EKMEjqWTpiKEfuhAR0bYwUZd0QySt0NLUj7y1NvlXdSmo5tWIgn2ZixO45xhaGvyZB-ynPLKZm6LEku7Z9lZkZ7o_osPgkmJH7k-oZQRqyBnENhOwbsDclzFzOizyNUQ3E/s1600-h/mmaps.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257835854813017458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBVWnXHEWN2EKMEjqWTpiKEfuhAR0bYwUZd0QySt0NLUj7y1NvlXdSmo5tWIgn2ZixO45xhaGvyZB-ynPLKZm6LEku7Z9lZkZ7o_osPgkmJH7k-oZQRqyBnENhOwbsDclzFzOizyNUQ3E/s400/mmaps.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"></a><span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://mairangibay.blogspot.com/2006/08/3-air-con-bus.html">On the Border</a> (2002)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 130%;"><br /><b>Workshops:</b></span><br />
<ul><br />
<li><a href="http://albany139326.blogspot.com/2013/10/lecture-workshop-1.html">Lecture / Workshop 1</a> - <b>Who? Where? How? What? Why?</b> /<br />Where <i>have</i> you been?</li>
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<li><a href="http://albany139326.blogspot.com/2013/10/lecture-workshop-2.html">Lecture / Workshop 2</a> - <b>Who?</b> (1): Ethnographer /<br />Reasons for travel</li>
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<li><a href="http://albany139326.blogspot.com/2013/10/lecture-workshop-3.html">Lecture / Workshop 3</a> - <b>Who?</b> (2): Unreliable Subject /<br />In-Class test</li>
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<li><a href="http://albany139326.blogspot.com/2013/10/lecture-workshop-4.html">Lecture / Workshop 4</a> - <b>Where?</b> (1): Close to Home /<br />Sticking to your own backyard</li>
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<li><a href="http://albany139326.blogspot.com/2013/10/lecture-workshop-5.html">Lecture / Workshop 5</a> - <b>Where?</b> (2): Further Afield /<br />Choosing the ideal destination</li>
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<li><a href="http://albany139326.blogspot.com/2013/10/lecture-workshop-6.html">Lecture / Workshop 6</a> - <b>How?</b> (1): Traditional Genres /<br />In the footsteps of ...</li>
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<li><a href="http://albany139326.blogspot.com/2013/10/lecture-workshop-7.html">Lecture / Workshop 7</a> - <b>How?</b> (2): Hybrid Genres /<br />Who <i>might</i> you be?</li>
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<li><a href="http://albany139326.blogspot.com/2013/10/lecture-workshop-8.html">Lecture / Workshop 8</a> - <b>What?</b> (1): People /<br />Anatomy of a neighbour</li>
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<li><a href="http://albany139326.blogspot.com/2013/10/lecture-workshop-9.html">Lecture / Workshop 9</a> - <b>What?</b> (2): Places & Events /<br />Anatomy of an event</li>
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<li><a href="http://albany139326.blogspot.com/2013/10/lecture-workshop-10.html">Lecture / Workshop 10</a> - <b>Why?</b> (1): The Marketplace /<br />Publication plans</li>
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<li><a href="http://albany139326.blogspot.com/2013/10/lecture-workshop-11.html">Lecture / Workshop 11</a> - <b>Why?</b> (2): Anti-Travel /<br />Sharing plans for final projects</li>
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<li><a href="http://albany139326.blogspot.co.nz/2013/10/lecture-workshop-12.html">Lecture / Workshop 12</a> - <b>When?</b> /<br />Sharing final projects</li>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix5dcyhTohQMchkeRmjtud5F_-f1mOsLHQqXn3KreRw8laCS_LZgtSV_iGNvrWhkLxNw9N5_thw5fhqeWllVAfTn70RAJbAjpPDAsTKc4Hhsrm0MHF31deTpMeoaieGUoPn4XrljhiAbA/s1600-h/signpost.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257833681918688002" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix5dcyhTohQMchkeRmjtud5F_-f1mOsLHQqXn3KreRw8laCS_LZgtSV_iGNvrWhkLxNw9N5_thw5fhqeWllVAfTn70RAJbAjpPDAsTKc4Hhsrm0MHF31deTpMeoaieGUoPn4XrljhiAbA/s400/signpost.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"></a><span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://www.nzepc.auckland.ac.nz/features/bluff06/index.asp#pictures">Destinations</a> (2006)</span></div><br />
<br />Dr Jack Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01077200107415470747noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1376927654532430295.post-51191426669002123602013-10-22T11:20:00.000+13:002019-12-09T13:49:48.712+13:00Lecture / Workshop 12<div align="center">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifkHXupNM-jNtbnQO_HY2xncbFrhrOKF5HMSVAt-__L2eZ0sj1L6jKQKqEsuAmM_fQlArd_30ZRpXO_rmJemJaz1FwzvWyq7Fb8ZosUQy_WsAnYQD6nLxFCVD9H2R14VMAMBtdqc6jFdQ/s1600-h/mappa2.gif"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341397149165144386" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifkHXupNM-jNtbnQO_HY2xncbFrhrOKF5HMSVAt-__L2eZ0sj1L6jKQKqEsuAmM_fQlArd_30ZRpXO_rmJemJaz1FwzvWyq7Fb8ZosUQy_WsAnYQD6nLxFCVD9H2R14VMAMBtdqc6jFdQ/s400/mappa2.gif" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 253px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;"></a><span style="font-size: 85%;">Italo Calvino: <a href="http://www.freegorifero.com/weblog/2004_11_01_weblog_archive.html">Città invisibili</a> (1972)</span><br />
<b><br /><span style="font-size: 180%;">Lecture 12:</span><br /><span style="font-size: 130%;">When?</span></b></div>
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Anthology texts to read:<br />
<ul><br />
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italo_Calvino">Italo Calvino</a>: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invisible_Cities"><i>Invisible Cities</i></a> (1972)</li>
<li>Joseph Conrad: from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_of_Darkness">Heart of Darkness</a> (1899)</li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Conrad">Joseph Conrad</a>: 'Congo Diary' (1890)</li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marco_Polo">Marco Polo</a>: from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Travels_of_Marco_Polo"><i>The Travels</i></a> (c.1300)</li>
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<b><span style="font-size: 130%;">Two Parables</span></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWl35KtUD1-18ejtKUpots2PqVF-GG4rzPtTTMA0prEPtS1e15ivlN8WuQjjd3_BoON_CJQHvO4wfBLPYKV6yktWalI9ewZWM9TCsmwDie6Yf56D0z3qPXpkMknUknpMp0jYrdgiSnUoni/s1600/calvino.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="280" width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWl35KtUD1-18ejtKUpots2PqVF-GG4rzPtTTMA0prEPtS1e15ivlN8WuQjjd3_BoON_CJQHvO4wfBLPYKV6yktWalI9ewZWM9TCsmwDie6Yf56D0z3qPXpkMknUknpMp0jYrdgiSnUoni/s400/calvino.jpg"></a><br /><span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/italo_calvino/biography.php">Italo Calvino</a> (1923-1985)</span><br />
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I want to finish with a recap of what we've been doing and what you've been listening to over the course of the last three months, then a look forward to some of the ways I hope that your writing (and reading) may change as a result.<br />
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I want to begin by telling you two parables, or considering two case-studies - whichever terminology you prefer.<br />
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The first is the story of Marco Polo, or <i>Marco Milione</i> ("Marco Millions") as he was known in his native Venice. In his youth Marco Polo accompanied his father and uncle on a long, perilous journey across land from Italy to China. That was in the year 1271, long before the Renaissance, long before the invention of printing, long before most of the technological innovations we consider specifically "Western" or "European".<br />
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When he came back 24 years later, it was with a mass of traveller's tales about the sheer extent and complexity of the Great Khan's empire (Kublai Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan). Nobody believed him, however. He earned his nickname because he was alleged to exaggerate every small number into "millions". While he'd been away, Venice had declared war on Genoa, and Marco was roped into the conflict. He was captured and imprisoned, and it was while he was in a prison cell in Genoa that he met and dictated his travel stories to a writer named Rustichello of Pisa.<br />
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Rustichello specialised in writing romances, full of chivalrous knights, beauteous damsels, mysterious castles, tournaments and intrigues. He accordingly wrote Marco's story in the only way he knew how: as a romance (you'll note his prologue includes details of the Polos being enlisted to convey two ladies to a far-off destination). As a result, it was regarded as more of a work of fiction than a genuine contribution to geographical knowledge, and it wasn't until centuries later that explorers such as Christopher Columbus started to take it seriously.<br />
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The text of his account is uncertain and unauthorised, the details often garbled, but there can be no serious doubt that Marco went where he said and did what he reported. It was <i>Rustichello</i>, though, his ghost-writer, who created his book, one of the most popular and bestselling works in history.<br />
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Many years later, another Italian writer, Italo Calvino, used Marco's story - particularly the account of his conversations with the Great Khan - to create a very strange work of fiction: <i>Invisible Cities</i>. You've had a chance to read some of it, and I guarantee that you found it a little difficult to follow in parts. What's it actually about?<br />
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The blurb on the back of my Picador edition quotes from a contemporary review of the book:<br />
<blockquote>
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'Every time he returns from his travels, Marco Polo is invited by Kublai Khan to describe the cities he has visited. The conqueror and the explorer exchange visions: for Kublai Khan the world is constantly expanding; for Marco Polo, who has seen so much of it, it is an ever-diminishing place.<br />
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Although he makes Marco Polo summon up many cities for the Khan's imagination to feed on, Calvino is describing only one city in this book. Venice, that decaying heap of incomparable splendour, still stands as substantial evidence of man's ability to create something perfect out of chaos. Nevertheless, it's a place where rats thrive; where the dead can seem to outnumber the living'<br />
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<i>Times Literary Supplement</i></div>
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Perhaps Kublai Khan is the type of the consumer of travel literature. He stays at home and retains his appetite for marvels. Marco Polo, like James Hamilton-Paterson ("The End of Travel") or the various purveyors of "Anti-travel" we talked about a fortnight ago, is more jaundiced. The more he sees, the more repetitive it all becomes.<br />
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Which of them is correct? Both - and neither. The wonders of the world <i>are</i> inexhaustible (literally), but that doesn't make them invulnerable. Modernity speeds up travel, but also makes it more and more necessary to assert the necessity to stand still once in a while.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5rTsdPHSvYSE3qia0zwC39xZ9LorNal9dpL2lhyqMqiX1pm00tWhZqJv-kl0FlzzU5Ie1s5N46g41SKPaSDGdQ4q44IUhZfZHaEawoqMmj7f3-yEqCsQ8q8__71za7wbemZCNHsPa-GM/s1600/conrad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="250" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5rTsdPHSvYSE3qia0zwC39xZ9LorNal9dpL2lhyqMqiX1pm00tWhZqJv-kl0FlzzU5Ie1s5N46g41SKPaSDGdQ4q44IUhZfZHaEawoqMmj7f3-yEqCsQ8q8__71za7wbemZCNHsPa-GM/s400/conrad.jpg"></a><br /><span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/5708673/Joseph-Conrads-Heart-of-Darkness.html">Joseph Conrad</a> (1857-1924)</span><br />
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My second parable is the story of Joseph Conrad (or Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, if you prefer). He grew up speaking Polish, in Poland, and yet he didn't - because there was no such country. Prussia, Russia and Austria had divided up Poland between them in the late eighteenth century, and it didn't achieve independence again until 1918, after the First World War.<br />
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Conrad's father Apollo was a writer and a patriot, and was accordingly arrested by the Tsarist authorities in 1861, when Joseph was four, and sent into exile in Siberia. Both his mother and father died as a result of the harsh conditions they were subjected to there, so Joseph was an orphan by the age of 11.<br />
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In an autobiographical essay Conrad records that he was fascinated by maps as a young boy, and particularly by the blank spot in the centre of Africa. "When I grow up I will go <i>there</i>," he said to himself - and, amazingly, many years later, after leaving Poland for France, and then for the British Merchant Marine, he did precisely that. He went <i>there</i> - to the heart of the King Leopold's private colony on the Congo river - and what he saw and brought back from that experience eventually became the story <i>Heart of Darkness</i>.<br />
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For me, the essential thing to remember when trying to understand this story is that Conrad was not British. His narrator and alter-ego Marlow <i>is</i> British - and is accordingly rather scornful of "foreigners", especially their attempts to run viable colonies. Conrad, though, as a loyal Pole, was scornful of Imperialism in all its forms - British, Russian and American - and his feelings about inhabiting a "blank spot" on the map can hardly be said to have been unambiguous either.<br />
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His is certainly an art of contrast and comparison. The fascinating thing is that it was by <i>enlarging</i> his terms of reference, by making his very real experience of the horror of the Belgian Congo into a fictionalised story, that he managed to create a work which has sparked so many analogues and echoes since - notably Francis Ford Coppola's 1979 Vietnam war film <i>Apocalypse Now</i>.<br />
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Travel, in other words, can be said to be what you make of it. But the destiny of the words you produce, either by dictation to an unreliable and opinionated ghost-writer (Marco Polo) or by deliberate creative recasting (Joseph Conrad), are finally unforeseeable.<br />
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Both of these stories, for me, underline the close - almost inextricable - relationship between the reality of the world we live in and the potency of the imaginative processes we use to describe and understand that world.<br />
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Conrad, as a child, <i>imagined</i> a journey to a blank spot on the map. That spot, when he finally reached it, bore little or no resemblance to the romantic, idealised "Africa" he'd been longing for. What it did suggest to him was a basic kinship between all the "dark places of the earth" - centres of genocide, colonial exploitation, poverty and greed. The "city of whited sepulchres", Brussels (and, by extension, London) turns out to the ultimate "heart of darkness" in his novella.<br />
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There's little evidence about what the actual Marco Polo expected to find in the vast regions he was traversing <i>before</i> he got there. He was, after all, following an already established trading route. The - apparently quite realistic - stories he told about his adventures in the East did end up inspiring the entire imaginative community of medieval Europe, though. And this influence eventually permeated as far as the novelist Italo Calvino in his meditations on time and space.<br />
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So what's my conclusion? I guess I want to turn it around onto you at this point. If telling the truth were a simple business, I'm sure we wouldn't need travel literature or any other kind of literature. There's no travel writing in heaven (or Utopia), that's for sure. Perhaps it all comes from our need to find a shape for our experience - a shape that somehow makes it meaningful, enables us to understand it, provides (in the final analysis) a catalyst for action?<br />
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In any case, it's a practical necessity for you right now to achieve some kind of balance between the ideal journeys of your imagination and the actual places you've experienced. Too much imagination, and you'll end up with pure fiction - too much reality, and you'll create nothing but a dull, banal itinerary. The art of travel writing lies in harmonising the two, imagining a journey, then experiencing it in reality, but never forgetting that the effect on your readers will depend on the intensity and skill with which you recreate it for them.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKgtk-3-MZeANRJ5wrk5OF_vYOU_iuW_7pEmglxkrOmaYY6g7LHgXL_THFiHuZC4xziDQbQHUdRQro46OJjKhVtQ7ODP4kHRiDJNtErN814aVnfClSTnd7renlbHlP_oPGtn5Q02nCUZs/s1600-h/MarcoPoloBook.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5258214226001229762" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKgtk-3-MZeANRJ5wrk5OF_vYOU_iuW_7pEmglxkrOmaYY6g7LHgXL_THFiHuZC4xziDQbQHUdRQro46OJjKhVtQ7ODP4kHRiDJNtErN814aVnfClSTnd7renlbHlP_oPGtn5Q02nCUZs/s400/MarcoPoloBook.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"></a><span style="font-size: 85%;">Marco Polo: <a href="http://www.modig.cn/stories.htm">The Travels</a> (c.1300)</span><br />
<b><br /><span style="font-size: 180%;">Workshop:</span><br /><span style="font-size: 130%;">Sharing final projects</span></b><br />
<blockquote>
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“All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveller is unaware.”<br />
– Martin Buber</blockquote>
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Sharing draft writing for your final projects.<br />
<ul><br />
<li>Final rundown on assignment submission details</li>
</ul>
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<a href="http://albany139326.blogspot.co.nz/2013/10/final-project.html">Asst 3: Final Project</a> due in end of week 13.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDr-Tt0ztpq4YBGZdldyBctbt6lmGYr1HyDKBdH4mpZtTmp0C9fEMIN4eBN6pu6qpQDGYm-7b50NQf-df0q4yb96DuEYoJOZNtqEs1YKeRnz5WzdnsawMMavBzt6dtbVYW1LFJQ9IDw74/s1600-h/Apocalypse+Now.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341395879735614610" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDr-Tt0ztpq4YBGZdldyBctbt6lmGYr1HyDKBdH4mpZtTmp0C9fEMIN4eBN6pu6qpQDGYm-7b50NQf-df0q4yb96DuEYoJOZNtqEs1YKeRnz5WzdnsawMMavBzt6dtbVYW1LFJQ9IDw74/s400/Apocalypse+Now.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 300px;"></a><span style="font-size: 85%;">Francis Ford Coppola: <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/03/uk_heart_of_darkness_meets_apocalypse_now/html/1.stm">Apocalypse Now</a> (1979)</span></div><br />
<br />Dr Jack Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01077200107415470747noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1376927654532430295.post-38300224543379210962013-10-21T11:20:00.000+13:002019-12-09T13:50:37.383+13:00Lecture / Workshop 11<div align="center">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh37Bg743NBF3ObhGBth0bRfMO3WNR4Ni6V_9lzu6reJtKfwlx6XTeozgZdREzmuJAJ6fT07Sk6INNwRflUYXX_-Tt-cP5MuBlgANaspsCBVobkYFhrDj0LIEdZZ_ajEe2B9yjxWdJsML0/s1600-h/hunter+S+Thompson.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5258231016953828466" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh37Bg743NBF3ObhGBth0bRfMO3WNR4Ni6V_9lzu6reJtKfwlx6XTeozgZdREzmuJAJ6fT07Sk6INNwRflUYXX_-Tt-cP5MuBlgANaspsCBVobkYFhrDj0LIEdZZ_ajEe2B9yjxWdJsML0/s400/hunter+S+Thompson.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"></a><span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2007/jul/10/followinghemingwaytothegra">Hunter S. Thompson</a> (1971)</span>
<br />
<b><br /><span style="font-size: 180%;">Lecture 11:</span><br /><span style="font-size: 130%;">Why?</span><br />Anti-Travel</b></div>
<br />
<br />
Anthology texts to read:<br />
<ul><br />
<li><a href="http://titus.books.online.fr/html/WriterScottHamilton.html">Scott Hamilton</a>: '<a href="http://readingthemaps.blogspot.com/2006/05/from-kalmykia-to-huntly.html">From Kalmykia to Huntly</a>,' from <a href="http://readingthemaps.blogspot.com/">Reading the Maps</a> (2006)</li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_S._Thompson">Hunter S. Thompson</a>: from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_and_Loathing_in_Las_Vegas_%28novel%29"><i>Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas</i></a> (1971)</li>
</ul>
<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: 130%;">The Town and the Country</span></b></div>
<br />
Let's start with a brief history of Western civilisation. It's a bit of a tall order, of course, but I guess somebody's got to do it, if only to be shot down in flames immediately afterwards.<br />
<br />
We begin with a fairly straightforward contrast between the City and the Countryside: urban and rural values -- the civilised and the wild. This basic paradigm for understanding the world around us lasted through classical antiquity right up into the modern era.<br />
<br />
The eighteenth-century poet Alexander Pope could therefore state with confidence:<br />
<blockquote>
<br />
The proper study of mankind is man<br />
<div align="center">
- <i>An Essay on Man</i> (1733)</div>
<br /></blockquote>
<br />
while his near-contemporary Dr Samuel Johnson famously remarked:<br />
<blockquote>
<br />
"When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford."<br />
<div align="center">
- Boswell's <i>Life of Johnson</i> (1791)</div>
<br /></blockquote>
<br />
It's not that these writers were unaware of nature, or even indifferent to its charms - it's just that they saw civilised life as some kind of an achievement, and therefore intrinsically praiseworthy and desirable. Like ancient Romans, they loved novelty, but assumed that novelties should be brought back to the metropolis to be exhibited.<br />
<br />
Fast-forward slightly. Here's a quote from William Wordsworth:<br />
<blockquote>
<br />
One impulse from a vernal wood<br />
May teach you more of man,<br />
Of moral evil and of good,<br />
Than all the sages can.<br />
<div align="center">
- "The Tables Turned" (1798)</div>
<br /></blockquote>
<br />
Wordsworth's poem was written only a few years after Boswell's book, but it represents nothing less than a revolution in values and assumptions: that great watershed in Western culture we generally refer to as the Romantic Movement.<br />
<br />
In essence, Wordsworth is saying that the town / country divide needs to be rethought in terms of the country: that there's an inherent nobility and beauty in natural processes which is intrinsically superior to the values of the city.<br />
<br />
We can quibble about just <i>how</i> and <i>when</i> this transformation took place. Clearly Wordsworth was harking back to Rousseau's idea of the Noble Savage ("Your book made me want to go about on all fours" as Voltaire remarked to the author of <i>The Social Contract</i> (1762)). Rousseau, in his turn, was summarising arguments advanced by Montaigne in "On the Cannibals" (1580). Nevertheless, these ideas first became dominant in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, and this instinctive preference for natural values over urban, sophisticated ones has stayed with us to this day.<br />
<br />
It certainly dominates travel writing, which is a genre which really took off in the nineteenth century, as it gradually achieved emancipation from largely educational accounts of that aristocratic European rite of passage known as the "Grand Tour." Instead, a new taste for the exotic, the strange, the wild and uncultivated overtoook readers and thinkers alike. Rugged explorers supplanted courtly sophisticates as the new heroes of the genre.<br />
<br />
And so it went on, well into the twentieth century: the best traveller was the one who can encounter a strange tribe which has "never seen a white man"; the best writer was the one who had suffered most, knew the greatest number of obscure dialects, was prepared to go over the edge into the illimitable Outdoors:<br />
<br />
As another great Romantic poet, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, put it:<br />
<blockquote>
<br />
from my early reading of Faery Tales, & Genii &c &c -- my mind had been habituated <i>to the Vast</i> --<br />
<div align="center">
- Letter to Thomas Poole (16 Oct 1797)</div>
<br /></blockquote>
<br />
The 1960s were perhaps the highwater mark of this Romantic addiction to the purity and simplicity of nature over the deviousness and treachery of city-life. What is a hippie but an enthusiast for the (imagined) love and peace of the wilderness?<br />
<br />
The (alleged) failure of hippiedom to achieve anything much beyond a lot of psychedelic music and a big rock festival at Woodstock (the most enduring images of which are probably the heap of rubbish left behind when the tribes departed) is one of the predominant themes of the post-modern era. Woodstock, after all, was followed the debacle of the Rolling Stones' free concert at Altamont Speedway ...<br />
<br />
So where do we go now? Back to Pope and Johnson and a kind of conservative classicism? Or back to Coleridge and Thoreau and their evangelical enthusiasm for <i>the Vast</i>? Where is this "Vast" to be located, anyway? In Space? (Another unfortunate casualty of the sixties ...)<br />
<br />
Little of Hunter Thompson's work makes sense without some appreciation of this dilemma, however localised his angle on it may be (Las Vegas and San Francisco are, for him, virtually the two opposing poles of the human spirit). He takes final refuge in the Rocky Mountains, the reclusive sage of Woody Creek, with the folk-singer John Denver as his nearest neighbour.<br />
<br />
Iain Sinclair, by contrast, takes his cues from the Science Fiction "New Wave" of the 1960s - a reaction to the 40s and 50s "fiction for young engineers" Sci-fi of the Campbell era. The fiction of British writer J. G. Ballard is one of the few reliable guides he can find to these explorations of so-called "inner space."<br />
<br />
Scott Hamilton prefers to explore that wasteland of the spirit known as Marxism - not so much the Master's own writings, as the various misinterpretations and misapplications of them which have resulted in our contemporary mediascape of "left" and "right"-wing values (another legacy of the Romantic era). For Scott, then, travel writing is a way of recuperating vanished histories, unearthing submerged proletarian traditions. <br />
<br />
In other words, he too is a dyed-in-the-wool Romantic. Marxism is a Utopian creed, after all, and the problem with Utopias is that they're so difficult to find.<br />
<br />
You can, however, do the next best thing, and try with all your might to go <i>nowhere</i> instead. <b>Utopia</b>, is, after all, Greek for "nowhere", but it can also be read as "<i>Eu</i>-topia", the good place.<br />
<br />
Every account of a Utopia - and New Zealand's English-language literature effectively began with one: Samuel Butler's <i>Erewhon</i>, in 1872 - seems accordingly to inspire an equal and opposite reaction: a Dystopia, or <i>bad</i> place ... Perhaps you can only imagine the good place by drawing a portrait of a bad one (so much easier to find), and then simply reverse it! Imagine Heaven by describing Hell, in other words.<br />
<br />
When Scott Hamilton came here to give a <a href="http://readingthemaps.blogspot.com/2008/05/ripping-off-brands-rough-guide-to-anti.html">guest lecture</a> in May 2008, he said:<br />
<blockquote>
<br />
For me, anti-travel writing is about rejecting falsified images of New Zealand, and falsified images of other parts of the world. It’s about digging into the present to find the past which can help explain that present. It’s about ripping brands off the landscape.<br />
<br />
... In the piece which Jack put in your coursebook, and in a lot of other things I write, I’m arguing for the right of New Zealand to be ugly, or at least complicated, rather than the theme park paradise which the Tolkien films and the tourist industry seem to want to create. I’m fascinated by the Huntly district, and by the Waikato area in general, because of the very particular, very legible marks that history has made on the landscape there. Instead of airbrushing the landscape, and removing the history written on it, I want to read the messages in the coal shaft openings and canals and terraces and gravel quarries.<br />
<br />
Underneath the streets of Huntly, and underneath the Waikato River that divides the town, lie a tangle of half-collapsed tunnels built a century ago by coal miners armed with shovels and dynamite. Every time I walk down the main street of Huntly I tread lightly, because I know I’m treading on hollow ground. Like the drained swamps and ghostly forests of the Hauraki Plains, these half-forgotten passageways are metaphors for a history which has often been repressed.<br />
<br />
If you visit the coal mining museum in Huntly you may learn the names of the members of the miners’ wives lawn bowls team in 1951, or see a photo of the manager of Ralph’s Mine in 1911, but you will not be informed about the explosion that killed nearly fifty men at Ralph’s in 1914. You will not be told about the great strike of 1913, when drunken farmers on horseback, named Massey’s Cossacks, after the right-wing Prime Minister of the day, fought pitched battles with miners. You will not learn about the strange ‘riot’ of 1932, when the whole town of Huntly formed an orderly queue in front of the General Store, a group of housewives smashed the store’s windows with their handbags, and family after family calmly helped itself to the food its members could not afford to buy.<br />
<br />
The fact that some of the uglier – or, perhaps we should say, more complicated – aspects of Huntly history have been kept out of the local museum may have something to do with the fact that a big mining company is funding the upgrade and relocation of that museum. But if you drive through the broken-backed countryside to the west of Huntly, on the wrong side of the river, then you’ll find the signs, the more or less cryptic messages left by history, like decaying mine entrances, blackened and condemned by explosions and fires, or derelict miners’ cottages the size of sheds, huddled in the shadow of the fine houses of the managers, or heaps of slack coal bleeding blackly into streams blocked by dynamited bridges. The past is a landscape waiting to be read.</blockquote>
<br />
I'm not sure that Scott understands the term "anti-travel" in precisely the same way I do, but we certainly agree on the desirability of a type of writing which is anti-cliché, dismissive of lazy conventions within the genre - knee-jerk responses, casually contemptuous guying of the "foreign."<br />
<br />
Funnily enough, we were both under the impression that it was a well-known term for an established genre when Scott first wrote his piece. However, there may be some justification for the view that it isn't - or rather <i>wasn't</i>. It's rather exciting to be in at the birth of a new genre. Let's hope that the results live up to the opening fanfare.<br />
<br />
At the very least, it's one more possibility in your smorgasbord of possible voices to try out.<br />
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<b><br /><span style="font-size: 130%;">•</span></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF-fkvzL_S6cYnJ09fG4xM8rgrhe8SifYN_gzkuVLGGtPKwR2Mt70ULcX_vnhm7OpCJeqQqBCAipyukyAXK4lGVX-TCmBny_z4JbiaNiF0LtCQ31IIyPdeKmWWILbMraAYGQxAx6WaXxk/s1600/Blankets.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5610771423619948786" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF-fkvzL_S6cYnJ09fG4xM8rgrhe8SifYN_gzkuVLGGtPKwR2Mt70ULcX_vnhm7OpCJeqQqBCAipyukyAXK4lGVX-TCmBny_z4JbiaNiF0LtCQ31IIyPdeKmWWILbMraAYGQxAx6WaXxk/s400/Blankets.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 276px;"></a><span style="font-size: 85%;">Mark Goff: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Blankets.jpg">Woodstock</a> (August 15, 1969)</span><br />
<b><span style="font-size: 180%;"><br />Workshop:</span><br /><span style="font-size: 130%;">Sharing plans for final projects</span></b><br />
<blockquote>
<br />
“How long can the exotic remain exotic?”<br />
– <i>Granta</i> 26: Travel (1989): 258.</blockquote>
<br /></div>
<br />
Daniel Kalder:<a href="http://www.danielkalder.com/antitourism.html">From THE SHYMKENT DECLARATIONS</a><br />
<blockquote>
(<i>Excerpts from the resolutions passed at the first international congress of Anti- Tourists at the Shymkent Hotel, Shymkent, Kazakhstan, October 1999</i>)<br />
<br />
As the world has become smaller so its wonders have diminished. There is nothing amazing about the Great Wall of China, the Taj Mahal, or the Pyramids of Egypt. They are as banal and familiar as the face of a Cornflakes Packet.<br />
<br />
Consequently the true unknown frontiers lie elsewhere. <br />
<br />
The duty of the traveller therefore is to open up new zones of experience. In our over
explored world these must of necessity be wastelands, black holes, and grim urban
blackspots: all the places which, ordinarily, people choose to avoid.<br />
<br />
The only true voyagers, therefore, are anti-tourists. Following this logic we declare that:<br />
<br />
The anti-tourist does not visit places that are in any way desirable.<br />
<br />
The anti-tourist eschews comfort.<br />
<br />
The anti-tourist embraces hunger and hallucinations and shit hotels.<br />
<br />
The anti-tourist seeks locked doors and demolished buildings.<br />
<br />
The anti-tourist scorns the bluster and bravado of the daredevil, who attempts to penetrate danger zones such as Afghanistan. The only thing that lies behind this is vanity and a desire to brag.<br />
<br />
The anti-tourist travels at the wrong time of year. <br />
<br />
The anti-tourist prefers dead things to living ones.<br />
<br />
The anti-tourist is humble and seeks invisibility.<br />
<br />
The anti-tourist is interested only in hidden histories, in delightful obscurities, in bad art.<br />
<br />
The anti-tourist believes beauty is in the street.<br />
<br />
The anti-tourist holds that whatever travel does, it rarely broadens the mind.<br />
<br />
The anti-tourist values disorientation over enlightenment.<br />
<br />
The anti-tourist loves truth, but he is also partial to lies. Especially his own. <br />
<br />
From <i>LOST COSMONAUT</i>
</blockquote><br />
<br />
Discussion of Anti-travel texts.
<ul><br />
<li>The politics of travel to a deliberately <i>non</i>-exotic destination: in this case, Huntly</li>
<li>Is this an approach that lends itself particularly to video or photographic representation?</li>
</ul>
<br />
Sharing plans and ideas for your final projects.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgod-qJiHZqlWX5BvrTCGMxUv-dl-_7fYieJTMExwUJmnpFAzGXIKlBIPPmAX_LayZ_oHSBzB0xLVSadBLxZfuf6GtfTASA4HIkk9iGtn-cqYb0fyZx2AIq2aYcvn6yP5e1qebUX2_BRw8/s1600-h/scott+hamilton.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341400237021448178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgod-qJiHZqlWX5BvrTCGMxUv-dl-_7fYieJTMExwUJmnpFAzGXIKlBIPPmAX_LayZ_oHSBzB0xLVSadBLxZfuf6GtfTASA4HIkk9iGtn-cqYb0fyZx2AIq2aYcvn6yP5e1qebUX2_BRw8/s400/scott+hamilton.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;"></a><span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://readingthemaps.blogspot.com/">Scott Hamilton</a></span></div><br />
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Dr Jack Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01077200107415470747noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1376927654532430295.post-31579131475358210462013-10-20T11:20:00.000+13:002020-05-25T10:34:54.978+12:00Lecture / Workshop 10<div align="center">
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-t4buQ4JZRipGw1F9xiE4-pLXzKnL3EY3i3x__ogHoaQ2oxUL47aA0OeqeCMpwFfXg6dJGI2294G14rrZ6T8qF8Y4ErLIGvtVHm8CWLXtGou_Y1WEXPe5YPoZqZcmtfFlrDCJ8rWJXFQ/s1600-h/lonely+planet.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341424434274639186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-t4buQ4JZRipGw1F9xiE4-pLXzKnL3EY3i3x__ogHoaQ2oxUL47aA0OeqeCMpwFfXg6dJGI2294G14rrZ6T8qF8Y4ErLIGvtVHm8CWLXtGou_Y1WEXPe5YPoZqZcmtfFlrDCJ8rWJXFQ/s400/lonely+planet.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 259px;"></a><span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://www.coverbrowser.com/covers/bestsellers-2006/60">Lonely Planet New Zealand</a> (2006)</span><br />
<b><br /><span style="font-size: 180%;">Lecture 10:</span><br /><span style="font-size: 130%;">Why?</span><br />The Marketplace</b></div>
<br />
<br />
Anthology texts to read:<br />
<ul><br />
<li><a href="http://www.bookcouncil.org.nz/writers/edmondmartin.html">Martin Edmond</a>: from <i>Luca Antara: Passages in Search of Australia</i> (2006)</li>
<li>from <i><a href="http://www.lonelyplanet.com/">Lonely Planet</a> New Zealand</i> (2006)</li>
</ul>
<br />
<div align="center">
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: 130%;">Selling Your Wares</span></b>
<br />
<br />
"No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money."<br />
- <a href="http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Samuel_Johnson">Dr Samuel Johnson</a> (1776)</div><br />
<br />
But is that actually true? Did Dr. Johnson <i>really</i> spend all those years working on his Dictionary purely for money? What about his poems, his private journal - <i>those</i> can't have brought in very much cash.<br />
<br />
What I'd like to discuss today is why (and how) people choose to write about their travels - <i>is</i> it solely for money, and (if so) what's the best way of getting down on some of this easy lucre.<br />
<br />
I'll be talking today about some of my own experiences in the trade, information I've gathered from talking to professional travel journalists, film-makers and photographers. I'll also be very interested to ask some of your own reactions to all this. Which parts of the field appeal most to you personally?<br />
<br />
Finally, I'll invite you to start thinking about how you're going to approach your last assignment in the course (worth 55% of your grade). We have a range of responses from past students up on the course <a href="http://139326anthology.blogspot.co.nz/">anthology</a> website, and I'll be inviting you to sample at least a few of them by clicking on the label "final project" in the side-bar.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0Si4rNJjp_yf6HMFc8xzM64yiG7VhHRQJU86Qlsm7T-Mm-kLN9BMYG82gvr1Na2OeVy3baodBj7B7pIPfVquXIg-B2CStj2GOkw_1MmpSNxdosfCp5dq01qN149EA0D9LfZslmrvIdmA/s1600-h/Luca+Antara+(small).jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5258224730769365122" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0Si4rNJjp_yf6HMFc8xzM64yiG7VhHRQJU86Qlsm7T-Mm-kLN9BMYG82gvr1Na2OeVy3baodBj7B7pIPfVquXIg-B2CStj2GOkw_1MmpSNxdosfCp5dq01qN149EA0D9LfZslmrvIdmA/s400/Luca+Antara+(small).jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"></a><span style="font-size: 85%;">Martin Edmond: <a href="http://www.oldcastlebooks.co.uk/main.php?select_isbn=9781842432723">Luca Antara</a> (2006)</span></div><br />
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<b><br /><span style="font-size: 130%;">•</span></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1Z5gKqCyP22AE0qylf5jKfYmjfiMWGJTimOVkyWV3gqhEJcw8NKKXsBeBwqmr-4zcX5sgVO8fyfLPppOArsJSJskKUkXdwGeYcNgDtJKUrhMGloI2-Gw7YHMw6k_yY_QNrzH3JO47nhs/s1600/1353536710screenshot2.png" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1Z5gKqCyP22AE0qylf5jKfYmjfiMWGJTimOVkyWV3gqhEJcw8NKKXsBeBwqmr-4zcX5sgVO8fyfLPppOArsJSJskKUkXdwGeYcNgDtJKUrhMGloI2-Gw7YHMw6k_yY_QNrzH3JO47nhs/s320/1353536710screenshot2.png"></a><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;">[<a href="http://www.iphonelife.com/promotions/digital-nomad-travel-magazine-joins-ipad-publishing-revolution">Digital Nomad Travel Magazine</a>]</span><br />
<b><br /><span style="font-size: 180%;">Workshop:</span><br /><span style="font-size: 130%;">Publication Plans</span></b><br />
<blockquote>
<br />
“If an ass goes travelling, he'll not come home a horse.”<br />
– Thomas Fuller</blockquote>
<br /></div>
<br />
Choice of publication outlet / audience predetermines certain details of what you can and can’t include in your piece.<br />
<ul><br />
<li>Stretch the boundaries, or live happily within them?</li>
</ul>
<br />
<div align="center">
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9BYKaMQWWrbkAW-gPf7S_zPP6qNrFBGhbLhNUMJ_mZsw5W_q3IN0lMoKLv3_mJ10fiQGn22IM9MpvwGXg0DElS7W9I03mwbIbDqoVyyUfGdAU3wEfoYghHR3jbqunq1Qba8bwCtTpnbE/s1600-h/scaffolding.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341425368570047906" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9BYKaMQWWrbkAW-gPf7S_zPP6qNrFBGhbLhNUMJ_mZsw5W_q3IN0lMoKLv3_mJ10fiQGn22IM9MpvwGXg0DElS7W9I03mwbIbDqoVyyUfGdAU3wEfoYghHR3jbqunq1Qba8bwCtTpnbE/s400/scaffolding.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 266px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;"></a><span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="https://vimeo.com/user2844675">Gabriel White</a>: <i>Journey to the West</i> (2003)</span></div><br />
<br />Dr Jack Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01077200107415470747noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1376927654532430295.post-56822278826074772022013-10-19T11:19:00.000+13:002019-12-09T13:52:17.994+13:00Lecture / Workshop 9<div align="center">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPbxGkAB8QafFCrGzPPSOBXSOo0oZLykbhztsfslgOBWkBY9HalLERix_IApv3mFelwmGQO59bh14asGNR6X07J1B5hZbJwH3UVpdUJuyTcTO3R5U0J6WTCzgurfFzxsQk5txxOaHfBX0/s1600-h/sacco.gif"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5258227884355149794" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPbxGkAB8QafFCrGzPPSOBXSOo0oZLykbhztsfslgOBWkBY9HalLERix_IApv3mFelwmGQO59bh14asGNR6X07J1B5hZbJwH3UVpdUJuyTcTO3R5U0J6WTCzgurfFzxsQk5txxOaHfBX0/s400/sacco.gif" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"></a><span style="font-size: 85%;">Joe Sacco: <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200103u/cc2001-03-29/3">Safe Area Goražde</a> (2000)</span><br />
<b><br /><span style="font-size: 180%;">Lecture 9:</span><br /><span style="font-size: 130%;">What?</span><br />Places & Events</b></div>
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Anthology texts to read:<br />
<ul><br />
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Sacco">Joe Sacco</a>: from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safe_Area_Gora%C5%BEde"><i>Safe Area Goražde</i></a> (2000)</li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Schlosser">Eric Schlosser</a>: from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast_Food_Nation"><i>Fast Food Nation</i></a> (2001)</li>
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<b><span style="font-size: 130%;">The Investigative Reporter</span></b></div>
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The term “muckraker” was, I believe, first popularised in 1906 by American President Theodore Roosevelt, who remarked that: “the men with the muck rakes are often indispensable to the well being of society; but only if they know when to stop raking the muck.” (Goodwin, p. 236)
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<br />What he meant, of course, that investigative journalism was all very well when directed at his political opponents, but when it came to looking into his <i>own </i>record as a publicity-mad, self-promoting, Imperialist windbag (just how heroic <i>was </i>the “rough rider” charge at San Juan Hill? Was there actually any effective Spanish opposition left at that point in the battle?), then even a little was far too much.
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<br />Investigative reporters have continued this proud tradition of getting up the noses of those too rich and powerful for their own good ever since. John Pilger’s splendidly combative anthology <i>Tell Me No Lies: Investigative Journalism and Its Triumphs </i>(2004) includes pieces about the Nazi Holocaust, the aftermath of the Hiroshima bomb, the Vietnam war, the Cambodian genocide, the Russian war in Chechnya, all the way up to the American involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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<br />Pilger introduces his collection with a quote from American journalist T. D. Allman:
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<blockquote>Genuinely objective journalism not only gets the facts right, it gets the meaning of events right. It is compelling not only today, but stands the test of time. It is validated not only by “reliable sources”, but by the unfolding of history. It is journalism that ten, twenty, fifty years after the fact still holds up a true and intelligent mirror to events. (p.xiii)</blockquote>
<br />It’s an entrancing idea. And I have to say that of all the myriad models for the travel writer, that of the investigative reporter abroad is, in my opinion, one of the most effective and worthwhile.
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<br />Getting the story and conveying a sense of what it was like to be there are not always the same thing, though. War correspondents have, traditionally, been expected to report as many of the facts as they’re allowed to tell (without endangering their own army’s efforts to win, that is). The massacre at My Lai, broken by a young freelance journalist, Seymour Hersh, rather than by any of the reporters embedded with the US forces in Vietnam, shows just how difficult it can be to balance these two contrary principles, however.
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<br />As a result, some of the most enduring journalism over the past fifty years has been composed by the oddest and least likely people: Michael Herr’s impressionistic Vietnam war tapestry <i>Dispatches </i>(1977), or <i>All the Wrong Places: Adrift in the Politics of Asia </i>(1988), by English poet James Fenton, are both books that focus on the texture of events more than they do on particular “scoops” or stories.
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<br />“Getting the facts right” is, of course, still paramount for any journalist – not for them that elasticity with the truth that distinguishes writers such as Lloyd Jones or Bruce Chatwin. The essence of what Tom Wolfe called The New Journalism (in his 1973 anthology of the same name) was to incorporate as many as possible of the features of well-written fiction – scene-setting, careful story architecture, concentration (above all) on <i>character </i>– into journalistic writing. It now has its own name (within the Academy, at least): Creative Non-fiction.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibGw_7SJidpwYpW9ju2qDrclnd3CQLaQWdnUVgYF2XJfSpp918wYlDM_rLuW7JRfoHQ6etunsjM6RrkAjNHkzFGfCZ7Ifq1Ps7brhqY37m-FF5VnnVKRYYlofHRLuaHNlCneV5IsS4jUA/s1600/nicky+hager.jpeg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibGw_7SJidpwYpW9ju2qDrclnd3CQLaQWdnUVgYF2XJfSpp918wYlDM_rLuW7JRfoHQ6etunsjM6RrkAjNHkzFGfCZ7Ifq1Ps7brhqY37m-FF5VnnVKRYYlofHRLuaHNlCneV5IsS4jUA/s400/nicky+hager.jpeg"></a><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0611/S00368.htm">Nicky Hager</a> (2006)</span></div><br />
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Perhaps the closest equivalent to this kind of investigative journalism (often entailing travel as well) in New Zealand wculd be found in the work of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicky_Hager">Nicky Hager</a> or - to some degree - <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Wishart_%28journalist%29">Ian Wishart</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipsnKcloQXvcOnsxQAGcRrxUlbZgs3CKGWGoQ6tpSDllXjx9kZNxr1CQTBqB2VhrUTrIo9sTHUMF7VDxdaiGtEARxypLm4kAacMNWkRvt2EuEGFPtO1GldURWlBZVE2XKy4tBXIsR0Whc/s1600/war+criminals.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipsnKcloQXvcOnsxQAGcRrxUlbZgs3CKGWGoQ6tpSDllXjx9kZNxr1CQTBqB2VhrUTrIo9sTHUMF7VDxdaiGtEARxypLm4kAacMNWkRvt2EuEGFPtO1GldURWlBZVE2XKy4tBXIsR0Whc/s400/war+criminals.jpg" width="400"></a><br /><span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://www.military-quotes.com/media/modern-military-history-photos/p531-wanted-poster-of-bosnian-war-criminals.html">Bosnian War Criminals</a> (1995)</span></div><br />
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<blockquote>
Make no mistake, everywhere you go, not just in Marvel Comics, there's parallel universes...Here? On the surface streets: traffic, couples in love, falafel-to-go, tourists in jogging suits licking stamps for postcards ... And over the wall behind closed doors: other things-people strapped to chairs, sleep deprivation, the smell of piss ... other things happening for "reasons of national security"
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― <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/32468.Joe_Sacco">Joe Sacco</a>, <i>Palestine</i> (2003)</div>
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<iframe width="425" height="350" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="https://maps.google.co.nz/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=map+of+goradze+bosnia&aq=&sll=50.491808,12.139549&sspn=0.021132,0.02768&gl=nz&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Gora%C5%BEde,+Bosansko-podrinjski+kanton,+Federacija+Bosne+i+Hercegovine,+Bosnia+and+Herzegovina&t=m&z=14&ll=43.668544,18.974854&output=embed"></iframe><br /><small><a href="https://maps.google.co.nz/maps?f=q&source=embed&hl=en&geocode=&q=map+of+goradze+bosnia&aq=&sll=50.491808,12.139549&sspn=0.021132,0.02768&gl=nz&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Gora%C5%BEde,+Bosansko-podrinjski+kanton,+Federacija+Bosne+i+Hercegovine,+Bosnia+and+Herzegovina&t=m&z=14&ll=43.668544,18.974854" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">View Larger Map</a></small><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoCTRStVEXESockoy1Od5vQsrRaFTpXGGw-8cbLUZCbxaTtM89BpPtUzOL-rQziF0anYd-IzQg6loDk3dYbEQO2jp7BRuKzWUUViWNtM8v1lmfvuCUKUgfcOzHGjmDlWBIirKc_I1odqg/s1600-h/fast+food+nation.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341429347078578626" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoCTRStVEXESockoy1Od5vQsrRaFTpXGGw-8cbLUZCbxaTtM89BpPtUzOL-rQziF0anYd-IzQg6loDk3dYbEQO2jp7BRuKzWUUViWNtM8v1lmfvuCUKUgfcOzHGjmDlWBIirKc_I1odqg/s400/fast+food+nation.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 269px;"></a><span style="font-size: 85%;">Richard Linklater: <a href="http://deepanddepp.wordpress.com/2008/10/30/nacao-fast-food/">Fast Food Nation</a> (2006)</span></div><br />
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<blockquote>
The United States now has more prison inmates than full-time farmers.<br />
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[There is] a simple explanation for why eating a hamburger can now make you seriously ill: There is shit in the meat.<br />
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Did somebody say McUnion? [...] Not if they want to keep their McJob.
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― <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/380.Eric_Schlosser">Eric Schlosser</a>, <i>Fast Food Nation</i> (2003)</div>
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<iframe width="425" height="350" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="https://maps.google.co.nz/maps?oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&q=map+of+plauen+germany&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Plauen,+Chemnitz,+Sachsen,+Germany&gl=nz&ll=50.497613,12.136868&spn=0.021132,0.02768&t=m&z=14&output=embed"></iframe><br /><small><a href="https://maps.google.co.nz/maps?oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&q=map+of+plauen+germany&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Plauen,+Chemnitz,+Sachsen,+Germany&gl=nz&ll=50.497613,12.136868&spn=0.021132,0.02768&t=m&z=14&source=embed" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">View Larger Map</a></small><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXTAWqqijYdOq6BrY0nQsvXoj8YLEtWcpf76We60boMsrv2SNr04BtOvp-VV8y5BJFjTg3yZC199ANJQ6P3hPlexGUO3hShR7VgEnAjZ160zxUTG6YB80S_8upLAi12ecPxvPZRyzBmwE/s1600/bosnian-genocide-trnopolje-concentration-camp-1992.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXTAWqqijYdOq6BrY0nQsvXoj8YLEtWcpf76We60boMsrv2SNr04BtOvp-VV8y5BJFjTg3yZC199ANJQ6P3hPlexGUO3hShR7VgEnAjZ160zxUTG6YB80S_8upLAi12ecPxvPZRyzBmwE/s400/bosnian-genocide-trnopolje-concentration-camp-1992.jpeg" width="400"></a><br /><span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://bosniangenocide.wordpress.com/about/">Serb-run Trnopolje concentration camp</a> (August 1992)</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: 180%;">Workshop:</span><br /><span style="font-size: 130%;">Anatomy of an event</span></b></div><br />
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<div align="center"><blockquote>
“Travel books are expressions of the effectiveness of print in putting the world on show and delineating a geography of power.”<br />
– Lydia Wevers, <i>Country of Writing</i> (2002): 2.</blockquote>
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<b><br />‘Portraying an event’ exercise</b></div>
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These three highly politicised texts give private adventures against a background of international turmoil.<br />
<ul><br />
<li>How effectively do they communicate the drama / detail of events?</li>
<li>What similar issues might your own writing address?</li>
<li>How can you characterise a “landscape”?</li>
<li>What constitutes an “event”? Revolution, earthquake, war, depression, economic miracle …</li>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLzEb_OF_7SSWFB7rCQFiHqTeZcwcuqgpG4w6hig7q3_70Ezx_jHgCwK0s8FNlWLASDln8univ_iadLSjKAtmis00rMo9DXWXnmHyL0ZBquZ50bgPHgH7P2lxutHYQ_HzeAS5oZ3Epl-U/s1600/pc-schlosser533.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLzEb_OF_7SSWFB7rCQFiHqTeZcwcuqgpG4w6hig7q3_70Ezx_jHgCwK0s8FNlWLASDln8univ_iadLSjKAtmis00rMo9DXWXnmHyL0ZBquZ50bgPHgH7P2lxutHYQ_HzeAS5oZ3Epl-U/s400/pc-schlosser533.jpg" width="400"></a><br /><span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/08/03/stray-questions-for-eric-schlosser/">Eric Schlosser</a> (2006)</span></div><br />
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Dr Jack Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01077200107415470747noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1376927654532430295.post-53889215534836112862013-10-18T11:19:00.001+13:002019-12-10T08:42:04.186+13:00Lecture / Workshop 8<div align="center">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg21VCOHYNv9TeUm17LZzXt6H7-8yjdIG_jUe8cLZQk3qZu1dliCCYGA-AzkgrAROHyUOwnjw9VQ24H7j6c5w7yIsHQ2nUMxDTMl1t2gBPE3ru2VIPfnrihInRUi-EbIp0-esHi2LQpJbE/s1600-h/theroux.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5258226169510935698" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg21VCOHYNv9TeUm17LZzXt6H7-8yjdIG_jUe8cLZQk3qZu1dliCCYGA-AzkgrAROHyUOwnjw9VQ24H7j6c5w7yIsHQ2nUMxDTMl1t2gBPE3ru2VIPfnrihInRUi-EbIp0-esHi2LQpJbE/s400/theroux.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"></a><span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://www.mensvogue.com/arts/books/articles/2007/09/theroux">Paul Theroux</a> (b.1941)</span><br />
<b><br /><span style="font-size: 180%;">Lecture 8:</span><br /><span style="font-size: 130%;">What?</span><br />People</b></div>
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Anthology texts to read:<br />
<ul><br />
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Theroux">Paul Theroux</a>: from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Happy_Isles_Of_Oceania"><i>The Happy Isles of Oceania: Paddling the Pacific</i></a> (1992)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.nzetc.org/iiml/turbine/Turbi08/contributors.html">Catharina van Bohemen</a>: 'Safari,' from <a href="http://www.booknz.co.nz/passion%20portfolio/passion%20portfolio.html"><i>A Passion for Travel</i></a> (1998)</li>
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<b><span style="font-size: 130%;">Creating a Character</span></b></div>
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We’ve now talked about some of the different models for the travel writer (<b>Who?</b>); the politics of choosing particular destinations – near at hand or further afield (<b>Where?</b>); and the different generic solutions writers old and new have found to the problem of how to represent their journeys in textual form (<b>How?</b>). The discussion now moves on to the constituent parts of travel writing: <b>What</b> those active in the field actually tend to write about.
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<br />The common assumption is that travel writers devote a great deal of space to landscape evocations and descriptions of particular beauty spots. Nothing could be further from the truth. One reason that nineteenth-century travel books are often rather difficult to read nowadays is that they <i>did</i> over-indulge in what used to be called “purple passages” – attempts to itemise the appeal of particular views or bits of scenery.
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<br />The advent of photography in the mid-nineteenth century was one of the reasons that this practice fell into decline. When black-and-white daguerreotypes were overtaken by tinted, and then full colour images, the futility of competing with so exact a medium finally dawned on most professional travel writers.
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<br />Both Shackleton and Scott, in their early twentieth-century polar expeditions, understood that the choice of a photographer – and ownership of their images – was one of the main decisions they had to make. Herbert Ponting, on Scott’s 1910 <i>Terra Nova</i> expedition, and Frank Hurley, on Shackleton’s 1914 attempted Trans-Antarctic expedition, have left us with haunting and iconic images of the “Great White Silence” (to quote the title of Ponting’s 1924 documentary film about Scott’s doomed attempt to reach the South Pole).
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<br />If you read Scott and Shackleton’s own expedition accounts, however, you’ll notice a strong concentration on incident, first of all (the long death throes of the <i>Endurance</i> in the pack-ice for Shackleton, followed by a desperate trek for survival by him and his entire crew; or, in Scott’s case, the inexorable race against time to reach the Pole before the Norwegian explorer Amundsen). Beyond that, there’s a genuine fascination with <i>character</i>.
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<br />We’ve already noted, in the earlier weeks of the course, how dominated most travel narratives are by the personality of the narrator. Sometimes this is strongly foregrounded (as in the case of Bill Bryson’s travels around the USA, in search of his childhood); on other occasions the traveller prefers to remain more elusive, more of a portraitist than a constituent part of the scene (as in the case of Bruce Chatwin in Patagonia).
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<br />As most fiction writers would tell you, though, the best way to convey character in narrative is through dialogue. We learn far more from how a person speaks than we ever could from an abstract enumeration of their virtues and vices. Rather than telling us someone is prone to lose their temper easily, a novelist or short story writer will <i>show</i> them losing it: giving an angry retort to some innocent remark. The same applies to shyness, arrogance, stupidity, callousness, sentimentality, or kindness. The label is just a word: the manifestation of these characteristics in speech (or action) forces the reader to find that label for themselves.
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<br />We value things that we have to work for. Readers like to debate the character of particular fictional characters (that seems to be the main preoccupation of most book clubs, in fact). This is because the author has tried to put us in the same position we’re in when we make judgments about our actual friends and neighbours: we have to base them on what they’ve said or done, since that’s usually the only evidence available to us.
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<br />Travel writing, too, is character-based to a surprising degree. The solitary traveller may be able to inveigle us into travelling with him or her for a few chapters at a time, but beyond that we need human contacts and picturesque personalities to keep us engaged. The precise motives of Captain Oates in stepping outside the tent “for some time” during the Scott expedition remain an object of controversy to this day.
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<br />Similarly, did Shackleton unfairly hog the credit for the eventual rescue of his entire crew over that expert navigator and skipper of the <i>Endurance</i>, New Zealander Frank Worsley? Or, for that matter, was it just of him to discount the painstaking carpentry and brilliant seamanship of outspoken Glaswegian Harry McNish, who was denied the polar medal, awarded to virtually all the rest of the crew, for his “insubordination” and lack of respect for the “Boss” (as Shackleton liked to be called)?
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<br />Who can really say, at this distance in time? But when we read the diaries, letters, and published accounts of the various protagonists, it’s as if we are reliving the events themselves, as if we <i>can</i> venture our own opinions on who showed up well or badly in these long-ago events.
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<br />An almost obsessive interest in <i>people</i> – their motivations, actions, attitudes: in a word, character – is therefore an inseparable part of the make-up of most successful travel writers. There <i>are</i> exceptions (a few): writers whose monumental egotism makes all of nature and humanity outside them mere echoes of themselves – as Walter de la Mare’s “Napoleon” puts it:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix8T19zHysqXloR8sqRaH1RMKzPaEUI8dztPycycf17RLiT1jR7NgRp8keNeoPxwr_ALn0r6avcJpNlum0Tc80Ej3UihGfl1gUGQ0PQ_Wzy7B0PIb8zqePT7zC3RdjXxAPSLyiuD0mJr0/s1600/napoleon-in-egypt.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix8T19zHysqXloR8sqRaH1RMKzPaEUI8dztPycycf17RLiT1jR7NgRp8keNeoPxwr_ALn0r6avcJpNlum0Tc80Ej3UihGfl1gUGQ0PQ_Wzy7B0PIb8zqePT7zC3RdjXxAPSLyiuD0mJr0/s400/napoleon-in-egypt.jpg"></a><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;">Jean Luis Gérôme: <a href="http://espliego.wordpress.com/2007/10/31/napoleon/">Napoleon in Egypt</a></span></div><br />
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<blockquote>What is the world, O soldiers?
<br /><span style="padding-left: 2em;">It is I:</span>
<br />I, this incessant snow,
<br />This northern sky;
<br />Soldiers, this solitude
<br />Through which we go
<br /><span style="padding-left: 2em;">Is I. (de la Mare, p. 89)</span></blockquote>
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One thing’s for certain: Napoleon Bonaparte would have made a terrible travel writer.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJR_Gp_RxZ8EDYw5DKdq_73qpiOXiTSH_RwBsA2L1Sl-MYdJ2tSKccxb0Z7vUjnIznm23dWg-9oPEhUbQ-T5zhftL65ndQPO6rkjMR5X9wyHGTBe5D32kuB_wR5r5_er4E5DQ2T4CR2QM/s1600-h/safari.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341431383611996786" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJR_Gp_RxZ8EDYw5DKdq_73qpiOXiTSH_RwBsA2L1Sl-MYdJ2tSKccxb0Z7vUjnIznm23dWg-9oPEhUbQ-T5zhftL65ndQPO6rkjMR5X9wyHGTBe5D32kuB_wR5r5_er4E5DQ2T4CR2QM/s400/safari.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 250px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 350px;"></a><span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://www.orange.co.uk/travel/holidayideas/pics/733_1.htm?linkfrom=%3C%21--linkfromvariable--%3E&link=box_main_pos_3_1_link_img&article=travellonghaulhomerow2left">Girl on Safari</a> (2006)</span><br />
<b><br /><span style="font-size: 180%;">Workshop:</span><br /><span style="font-size: 130%;">Anatomy of a neighbour</span></b><br />
<blockquote>
<br />
“Many contemporary travel narratives follow in this profitable vein, exhibiting picayune ‘mentors’ whose wisdom is dispensed like so much snake oil ...”<br />
– Holland & Huggan, <i>Tourists with Typewriters</i> (1998): 13.</blockquote></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6GjciQAYCh38qd20ljWo7-q8I65SgpDo85tRuWua6bT9BN9Qgc1KFpRSdxAdvWuSpyUveKndKp9iaUTnDhBnJjy0njYwTDvfPYB2EWz9umxR4u-qoQKcnu99oU3z7s5NeoJS_zrY4O6A/s1600/600-cath+tizard.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6GjciQAYCh38qd20ljWo7-q8I65SgpDo85tRuWua6bT9BN9Qgc1KFpRSdxAdvWuSpyUveKndKp9iaUTnDhBnJjy0njYwTDvfPYB2EWz9umxR4u-qoQKcnu99oU3z7s5NeoJS_zrY4O6A/s400/600-cath+tizard.jpg"></a><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://www.infonews.co.nz/news.cfm?id=7576">Dame Cath Tizard</a> (NZ Governor General, 1990-96</span></div><br />
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<div align="center">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9iQKILQymEzgHq70zpJ-JgSIOlkOCAn2Lu3RMQgfCBftD61xawPjHBugMvV6qSQMYztWTynBIK549HRSOlZng64iv0paR2pgbbVODWtclzzDo2K2obM8izunKn2SWaSyISwLUiLd04D0/s1600/featured_item_image_153795.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9iQKILQymEzgHq70zpJ-JgSIOlkOCAn2Lu3RMQgfCBftD61xawPjHBugMvV6qSQMYztWTynBIK549HRSOlZng64iv0paR2pgbbVODWtclzzDo2K2obM8izunKn2SWaSyISwLUiLd04D0/s400/featured_item_image_153795.jpg"></a><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://www.voxy.co.nz/politics/book-claims-lange-didnt-tell-palmer-about-american-ship-visit/5/153795">David Lange</a> (NZ PM, 1984-89</span></div><br />
<br />
Paul Theroux's <i>Happy Isles of Oceania</i> contains two interesting (and controversial) character sketches: one of our (then) Governor General, Dame Cath Tizard, and another of our former Prime Minister David Lange. If one is a bit of a love letter, the other sounds more like a character assassination. Can it <i>really</i> all come down to the fact that one of them had heard of him and the other hadn't? Are writers really <i>that</i> vain?<br />
<br />
I fear we may be.<br />
<br />
<b><br />‘Creating a character’ exercise</b>
<br />
<ul><br />
<li>Creating a character – examples from Theroux (himself / his interlocutors).</li>
<li>What are the components: physical description / speech / context?</li>
<li>What are the possible roles? Sidekick / opponent / friend / love interest, etc.</li>
<li>Chekhov & van Bohemen: portrait of the artist as a reluctant traveller?</li>
</ul>
<br />
<b>Locations:</b><br />
<ul>
<li>supermarket</li><li>beach</li><li>nightclub</li><li>pub / bar</li><li>village</li><li>hotel lobby</li><li>city street</li><li>country road</li><li>airport transit lounge</li>
</ul>
<br />
<b>Actions:</b><br />
<ul>
<li>talking</li><li>drinking</li><li>complaining</li><li>fighting</li><li>flirting</li><li>strolling</li><li>sunbathing</li><li>shopping</li><li>waiting</li>
</ul>
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<div align="center">
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWa8zMwN90_locRnqkbz-wZpOWBiBiyRDv77w0D8f5P3zr-XT47E9Ab-A8acoRgpIqjJP5ax_uSPEfqkMkoLXJyUjNKgZBYmPSVqjwVkdUtd0cuIzm727f0N8Cw4ZfLz3NYog0s5ISmiA/s1600/poetry+finalists+at+Womens+Bookshop+Aug+13.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWa8zMwN90_locRnqkbz-wZpOWBiBiyRDv77w0D8f5P3zr-XT47E9Ab-A8acoRgpIqjJP5ax_uSPEfqkMkoLXJyUjNKgZBYmPSVqjwVkdUtd0cuIzm727f0N8Cw4ZfLz3NYog0s5ISmiA/s400/poetry+finalists+at+Womens+Bookshop+Aug+13.jpg"></a><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://beattiesbookblog.blogspot.co.nz/2013/08/nz-post-book-award-poetry-finalists.html">l to r: Donna Malane, Ian Wedde, Anne Kennedy, Carole Beu,<br />
Catharina van Bohemen</a> (2013)</span></div><br />
<br />Dr Jack Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01077200107415470747noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1376927654532430295.post-69709791775347650732013-10-17T11:18:00.000+13:002020-07-16T16:39:11.249+12:00Lecture / Workshop 7<div align="center">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-VHeWvGR68lxTlmrjhzjArwoR7oBr0ExjtpzU9OhFm6QrVf6FQAVkiLEg-OdH5ROUw4m24Tf7hg-ZA3O7sBAKm4mT15xW7xSPIMMu0Y1Leo-8tGb5lrFUtREJrkUzn7_fYFirU8E5qX4/s1600/AudeninNY.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-VHeWvGR68lxTlmrjhzjArwoR7oBr0ExjtpzU9OhFm6QrVf6FQAVkiLEg-OdH5ROUw4m24Tf7hg-ZA3O7sBAKm4mT15xW7xSPIMMu0Y1Leo-8tGb5lrFUtREJrkUzn7_fYFirU8E5qX4/s400/AudeninNY.jpg" /></a><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://www.cprw.com/the-voice-of-the-poet-part-1">W. H. Auden</a> (1907-1973)</span>
<br />
<b><br /><span style="font-size: 180%;">Lecture 7:</span><br /><span style="font-size: 130%;">How?</span><br />Hybrid Genres</b></div>
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<br />
Anthology texts to read:<br />
<ul><br />
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W_H_Auden">W. H. Auden</a>: from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letters_from_Iceland"><i>Letters from Iceland</i></a> (1937)</li>
<li>Colin Hogg: from <a href="http://www.bookcouncil.org.nz/writers/huntsam.html"><i>Angel Gear: On the Road with Sam Hunt</i></a> (1989)</li>
</ul>
<br />
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<br />
<span style="font-size: 130%;"><b>Artists Who Can Only Compose in Fragments</b> ...</span></div>
<br />
The Japanese form <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haibun">haibun</a> – prose paragraphs followed (and focussed) by short pieces of verse – honed to a fine point of perfection by Matsuo Bashō in the various journals which accompanied his journeys (as discussed in chapter 6) perhaps offers us the best introduction to the idea of hybrid form in travel writing.
<br />
<br />Travel writing is already a hybrid form, of course – straddling with ease such traditional genre-divisions as verse and prose, or even fiction and non-fiction (as we saw in week 3). But that statement really doesn’t even begin to do justice to the strange things happening in a book like Auden & MacNeice’s <i>Letters from Iceland</i>, with its eccentric mixture of verse and prose, travelogue and autobiography – or, for that matter, Colin Hogg’s illustrated diary of a Sam Hunt poetry tour in the mid-eighties.
<br />
<br />The idea of an author who can only compose in fragments is a peculiarly modern view of the artist. Whatever one thinks of this cult of the sketchy and fragmentary, there’s no doubt that travel writing lends itself peculiarly well to this way of thinking. Travel is, by its very nature, scrappy and disorganised, and it therefore makes sense that making a complex, many-layered mosaic of one’s narrative could be seen to be making a virtue of necessity.
<br />
<br />I think it is necessary to understand some things about the evolution of (so-called) “conventional” travel writing before one can assess the innovations of such books, however. For this reason it seemed important to me to start out by discussing the meaning of Bashō’s work in its original cultural context before thinking of it as an influence on Western writing.
<br />
<br />Similarly, the passage from scribbled notes to journal to published book (apparent both in Darwin’s <i>Voyage of the Beagle </i>and Mawson’s <i>The Home of the Blizzard</i>) needs to be understood as quite typical for certain genres of travel narrative before one can begin to assess the growing cult of the sketchy and fragmentary in Modernist art and literature.
<br />
<br /> It pays to keep a detailed journal if you’re planning on writing an account of even the most banal journey. The format may change from Notebook to Dictaphone to Laptop or Tablet, but it makes sense to record your impressions as they occur, no matter how flawless a memory you may have. When the idea of the casual jotting starts to interest you as a literary <i>form</i>, though, you’re well on the way to the strange generic constructs which dominate some of the most interesting contemporary travelogues.
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<b><br /><span style="font-size: 130%;">•</span></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgglUhA4fTjhTO-AiW317kPtVTf0xz1UE-5-6RLEcEjkYqe4R2QMY1Lvl8ucYMA20ox2rY69jFu6sRHVeBTraLIbgJIokpr9lKX9R8PmK0UguAR_CtNqyqWSIdW-S1QRcVP-YfsHJJWHpI/s1600/220px-LettersFromIceland.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgglUhA4fTjhTO-AiW317kPtVTf0xz1UE-5-6RLEcEjkYqe4R2QMY1Lvl8ucYMA20ox2rY69jFu6sRHVeBTraLIbgJIokpr9lKX9R8PmK0UguAR_CtNqyqWSIdW-S1QRcVP-YfsHJJWHpI/s400/220px-LettersFromIceland.jpg"></a><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;">Auden & MacNeice: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letters_from_Iceland">Letters from Iceland</a> (1937)</span>
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<b><br /><span style="font-size: 180%;">Workshop:</span><br /><span style="font-size: 130%;">Who <i>might</i> you be?</span></b><br />
<blockquote>
<br />
“Criticism has never quite known what to call books like these.”<br />
– Paul Fussell, <i>Abroad </i>(1980): 202.</blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Exercise:</span> Mixing it up</div>
<br />
<blockquote>
Increasingly travel books address the issue of many-layered places and personalities by complexities of genre. Auden's and Hogg’s texts parallel poetry, images and prose; Martin Edmond’s calls the authenticity of his narrative into question again and again.<br />
<ul><br />
<li>You'll be divided into pairs (or groups of three).</li>
<li>Each of you will be given an extract from a well-known (but unidentified) travel book.</li>
<li>I want you to go through it, underlining any <i>facts</i> or <i>phrases</i> that particularly stand out (to you).</li>
<li>Now, show your list of words and phrases to the other people in your group.</li>
<li>I'd like you to make a joint text out of these stand-out words and phrases, with any necessary editorial modifications (names, dates, places) you need to make it read as a unified composition. You may also wish to add some new writing of your own.</li>
</ul>
<br />
Afterwards, we'll share as many as possible of the poems / short pieces that you've written.</blockquote>
<br />
<div align="center">
<br />
<a href="https://albany139326.blogspot.com/2013/10/local-travel-assignment.html">Asst 2: Local Travel Piece</a> due in this week.</div>
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<div align="center">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje5y4VBYTOVCO9RGWc3RwdD02zXp0VQKp1O8ddKWP1bBDsJx2ChkO0x3cgI5PwnnWtEygdW_W0YDtU7p5U7Ia6_4ji1EqRY-LmvaoDSvRRHrPLG_GOsePuA_ile1f8quZ_OTLbV-LGNGk/s1600-h/Hunt++Sam+(Jan+Kemp++1979).jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341434108254593170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje5y4VBYTOVCO9RGWc3RwdD02zXp0VQKp1O8ddKWP1bBDsJx2ChkO0x3cgI5PwnnWtEygdW_W0YDtU7p5U7Ia6_4ji1EqRY-LmvaoDSvRRHrPLG_GOsePuA_ile1f8quZ_OTLbV-LGNGk/s400/Hunt++Sam+(Jan+Kemp++1979).jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 290px;"></a><span style="font-size: 85%;">Jan Kemp: <a href="http://aonzpsa.blogspot.com/2007/11/hunt-sam.html">Sam Hunt</a> (1979)</span></div><br />
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Dr Jack Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01077200107415470747noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1376927654532430295.post-72467698811445818022013-10-16T11:18:00.000+13:002020-03-25T12:59:14.462+13:00Lecture / Workshop 6<div align="center">
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdlAa6YrOa757AcZyDc-Z2i9ysoAuS-E40Lhzaarz25BARCNtQ3Z5osCh4g2tlHjjSGeon6UvLRv24r-JqHg6NvJ0uDxWiMNBtb9J66DkhhPdwzUIuGja-ka0PweAUGv0tDwCljkG5So8/s1600-h/Mawson.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341434876079546530" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdlAa6YrOa757AcZyDc-Z2i9ysoAuS-E40Lhzaarz25BARCNtQ3Z5osCh4g2tlHjjSGeon6UvLRv24r-JqHg6NvJ0uDxWiMNBtb9J66DkhhPdwzUIuGja-ka0PweAUGv0tDwCljkG5So8/s400/Mawson.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 375px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 300px;"></a><span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://www.theage.com.au/news/tv-reviews/mawson-life-and-death-in-antarctica/2008/05/09/1210131240676.html">Sir Douglas Mawson</a></span>
<br />
<b><br /><span style="font-size: 180%;">Lecture 6:</span><br /><span style="font-size: 130%;">How?</span><br />Traditional Genres</b></div>
<br />
<br />
Anthology texts to read:<br />
<ul><br />
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matsuo_Bash%C5%8D">Matsuo Bashō</a>: from <a href="http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/%7Ekohl/basho/"><i>Narrow Road to the Deep North</i></a> (1694)</li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodora_Kroeber">Theodora Kroeber</a>: from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishi"><i>Ishi in Two Worlds</i></a> (1961)</li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Mawson">Douglas Mawson</a>: from <span style="font-style: italic;">The Antarctic Diaries</span> (1911-14)</li>
</ul>
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<div align="center">
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<span style="font-size: 130%;"><b>Days and Months are Travellers of Eternity</b> ...</span></div>
<br />
The journey is a metaphor. So much is obvious. In fact, the “journey of life” is probably the single most familiar image for the pattern of our individual existence. (The river is the next most popular – starting in the hills, meandering through the flatlands, then finally merging with the sea).
<br />
<br />But the journey is also real. Epic journeys are undertaken not just by celebrated explorers, such as Douglas Mawson or Ernest Shackleton, but also by ordinary mortals, such as the Buddhist monk Bashō, who was “tempted ... by the cloud-moving wind” to go off on his travels.
<br />
<br />No matter how real it tries to be, all travel writing has a tendency to stress the metaphorical, simply because it has to appeal to an audience of readers who aren’t there with you – who can’t see what you’re seeing, and therefore have to interpret your descriptions in their own terms.
<br />
<br />Terms like “realistic” or “symbolic” therefore have to be employed quite carefully in relation to all forms of travel writing, but particularly traditional, ostensibly “straightforward” examples.
<br />
<br />Explorers’ accounts of their journeys are no exception. Such books are generally quarried, at least initially, from a travel journal (the necessary proof that you actually <i>went</i> where you claim to have gone – demanded by funding organisations and publishers alike). But even before that, they begin with a general sense of the genre and its requirements.
<br />
<br />In official accounts of expeditions, for example, it’s customary not to allow any discussion of personal conflicts (hence the bitter controversy over various recent books about Captain Scott’s Antarctic expedition which re-admit the material censored at the time by – among others – the explorer’s widow).
<br />
<br />Late-nineteenth-century / early twentieth-century Polar expedition narratives generally appeared in two forms:<br />
<ul><li>First, a full account in two (or more) compendious volumes – complete with extensive technical details about supplies, equipment, and scientific observations in a series of appendices.</li>
<li>Second, a “popular” edition in one volume, with much (though not all) of that technical material edited out.</li>
</ul>
<br />
In the case of Sir Douglas Mawson's classic 1911-14 Australasian Antarctic expedition, however, I have chosen instead to reprint some pages from a modern (1988) edition of his original sledging diaries. The two texts make a very different impression. Which one brings us closer to the “real” journey, I wonder?
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<div align="center">
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_uEGqCIw9dYQByMwlN6fkBzCwE1MKlMCFqV-r28QS3C2LWm2xGfDB2qtyd-is4NpHkrnRbW-cq0K0ThC7a9BiiroZWIYOvpf5Bd90lyuiqVONqvHvs1IHycVMrXKaHHey50yVIqStMlM/s1600/Mawson_0733.jpg.350.0x233.5_q100.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_uEGqCIw9dYQByMwlN6fkBzCwE1MKlMCFqV-r28QS3C2LWm2xGfDB2qtyd-is4NpHkrnRbW-cq0K0ThC7a9BiiroZWIYOvpf5Bd90lyuiqVONqvHvs1IHycVMrXKaHHey50yVIqStMlM/s400/Mawson_0733.jpg.350.0x233.5_q100.jpg"></a><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://www.nfsa.gov.au/visit-us/exhibitions-presentations/previous-exhibitions/extreme-film-and-sound-stories-antarctica/">Tim Jarvis tries to climb out of a crevasse</a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
In the 2007 television documentary, <a href="http://www.filmaust.com.au/mawson/">Mawson: Life and Death in Antarctica</a>, modern explorer Tim Jarvis attempted to reproduce Mawson’s original 1912 death-march – with mixed results. Like Mawson (though not his two companions), Jarvis survived. Unlike Mawson, he proved unable to extricate himself from a crevasse towards the end of the trip.
<br />
<br /> “In the footsteps of” is one obvious way of trying to come closer to an intangible, unreachable original journey – as well as being a tried-and-true solution to the dilemma of how to recreate it for the reader. It’s the method used by Richard Holmes in his <i>Footsteps: Adventures of a Romantic Biographer</i> (discussed in chapter two above). It’s also the idea behind my colleague Ingrid Horrocks’ 2003 book <i>Travelling with Augusta</i>, recording her travels in pursuit of an ancestor whose sole surviving journal records a year spent in the small Adriatic town of Gorizia.
<br />
<br />Another approach is found in Theodora Kroeber’s famous biography <i>Ishi in Two Worlds: A Biography of the Last Wild Indian in North America</i> (1961). Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this book is its attempt to recreate the stone-age California which co-existed with the modern American state until (at least) the early twentieth century. Ishi was (so far as is known) the last Native American to live in complete ignorance of and isolation from the “civilised world” – but the extraordinary thing is that he and his tribe managed to stay under the radar for so long. What did the world look like through their eyes? Kroeber’s anthropologist husband tried to find out the answer, whilst simultaneously attempting to watch over and mediate Ishi’s integration into his new world.
<br />
<br />Whether he succeeded or not is a very controversial subject – as is his widow’s rather hagiographic account of his work – but it isn’t hard to see how this notion of seeing one’s own world through other people’s eyes is an attractive one. How does it feel to live on the North Shore of Auckland when you don’t speak any English, for instance? Is it easy or hard? Does it feel confined or free? We can speculate, or (better still) try asking those who actually <i>know</i>. It’s travel literature, then, only in the sense that it attempts to record a world <i>through</i> the looking-glass – the same place you already live in, only seen from a quite different perspective.
<br />
<br />Bashō’s journey is, at least on the surface, more straightforward than either of these others. It’s a travel diary, the record of a religious pilgrimage, and is clearly presented as such. The discussion in Donald Keene’s <i>Travelers of a Hundred Ages</i> (1989), though, reveals that some of the details in the diary are, in fact, fictional. Precise weather records actually still exist from this period, for instance, and they reveal that Bashō will choose weather which he considers appropriate to particular sites and days, rather than adhering strictly to reality. It’s also a very carefully worked-over text: one which he rewrote and edited assiduously until the end of his life.
<br />
<br />The journey, then, is a metaphor. Or rather, our generalising imaginations have a tendency to turn it into one. Kroeber and Mawson, as historian and scientist (respectively), have very high expectations of veracity to live up to on the part of their audience. Bashō, as a wandering poet, might anticipate having somewhat more licence extended to him. Nevertheless, I think the real surprise to the reader here is that the intensely everyday and circumstantial details of his itinerary have undergone any alteration – let alone extensive revision.
<br />
<br />In all three cases, though, the texts we have enshrine particular interpretations of a journey. That’s what travel writing really is, in fact: not so much what happened to you on your trip, but how you chose to turn what happened to you into a text.
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<b><br /><span style="font-size: 130%;">•</span></b><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoeisYnXg2neSvAdlXO3F9BSlvz4btBULILP0uzeheSZI0sJK74ipJ_u23M01EwepQqC2YdDf8o8LfbJzhCLzSxhqMS6JovniNwWUJdDYsCAajQYHXyu6-r-BumXrtGLEvr8D1IIRwoK0/s1600-h/basho_oku_trip_map.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341377438258107186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoeisYnXg2neSvAdlXO3F9BSlvz4btBULILP0uzeheSZI0sJK74ipJ_u23M01EwepQqC2YdDf8o8LfbJzhCLzSxhqMS6JovniNwWUJdDYsCAajQYHXyu6-r-BumXrtGLEvr8D1IIRwoK0/s400/basho_oku_trip_map.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 377px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;"></a><span style="font-size: 85%;">Bashō: <a href="http://www.sonic.net/%7Etabine/SAABasho_etc_Spring_2005/basho_folder/SAASpring2005_Basho_01.html">The Oku Trip</a> (1694)</span>
<br />
<b><br /><span style="font-size: 180%;">Workshop:</span><br /><span style="font-size: 130%;">In the footsteps of …</span></b><br />
<blockquote>
<br />
“Take only memories, leave only footprints.”<br />
– Chief Seattle.</blockquote>
<br /></div>
<br />
Discussion of Local Travel Assignment.<br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<br />
<b>Exercise: Writing a Scene.</b></div>
<br />
In pairs, you'll act out a little travel drama (if you have time, it would be great if you could swap around and do more than one scene).<br />
<br />
Here are some suggested scenarios:<br />
<ul><br />
<li>Couple quarreling in front of you about something trivial</li>
<li>Irritating teenagers behind you talking loudly about parties / boy or girlfriends / the uncoolness of their parents</li>
<li>Person trying to strike up acquaintance with attractive non-English-speaking tourist</li>
<li>Come up with something else ...</li>
</ul>
<br />
If we have time, we'll go round the class and listen to as many as possible of the scenes.<br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIY9JMbde_CyVmonRTFJn9dZ3S06xhPv9Jc3IcfAUYJCH0RayJ2Pfq40WwvO3ZIQIt7r7-DOQw1RCsihRTORMmOMm_W9rjMr59wi-1UTzITpwbzskXwySncVxUHgG5QeXt51RR-C5U8NA/s1600-h/ishi.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5258221864326872738" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIY9JMbde_CyVmonRTFJn9dZ3S06xhPv9Jc3IcfAUYJCH0RayJ2Pfq40WwvO3ZIQIt7r7-DOQw1RCsihRTORMmOMm_W9rjMr59wi-1UTzITpwbzskXwySncVxUHgG5QeXt51RR-C5U8NA/s400/ishi.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"></a><span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://www.muspe.unibo.it/period/MA/index/number1/nettl1/ne1_2mus.htm">A. L. Kroeber with Ishi</a></span></div><br />
<br />Dr Jack Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01077200107415470747noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1376927654532430295.post-69429623193323462782013-10-15T11:18:00.000+13:002019-12-10T08:44:45.155+13:00Lecture / Workshop 5<div align="center">
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9eFsiMrA0tDaJJigM2A__0hRauZHOv-vMa4HczGTvuCzLguh5RTbZRzauMzH6XTLqYErVl56H9z26wl23EAdDNL2uBnAH4HXA_hyw53eCGLx0gYQeR2341XIaFDWLlHY-Z9L3mdx9mfw/s1600-h/robyn-hide-cover.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5438987214375777410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9eFsiMrA0tDaJJigM2A__0hRauZHOv-vMa4HczGTvuCzLguh5RTbZRzauMzH6XTLqYErVl56H9z26wl23EAdDNL2uBnAH4HXA_hyw53eCGLx0gYQeR2341XIaFDWLlHY-Z9L3mdx9mfw/s400/robyn-hide-cover.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 256px;"></a><span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/media/photo/robin-hyde">Iris Guiver Wilkinson</a><br />[Robin Hyde] (1906-1939)</span>
<br />
<b><br /><span style="font-size: 180%;">Lecture 5:</span><br /><span style="font-size: 130%;">Where?</span><br />Further Afield</b></div>
<br />
Anthology texts to read:<br />
<ul><br />
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hamilton-Paterson">James Hamilton-Paterson</a>: 'The End of Travel,' from <i>Granta</i> (2006)</li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Hyde">Robin Hyde</a>: from <span style="font-style: italic;">Dragon Rampant</span> (1939)</li>
</ul>
<br />
<div align="center">
<br />
<span style="font-size: 130%;"><b><i>L'Invitation au Voyage</i></b></span></div>
<br />
You’ll recall, in week one, those two <i>You tube</i> videos I invited you to look at? Last week we talked about the advantages of staying “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhK8o2lRy5o">in the neighbourhood</a>” – benefiting from the intimate knowledge so easily attainable in your own backyard. This week I’d like to move to the other extreme: the romance of travel to an unknown destination, the lure of what is most exotic and strange.<br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0GUQ1J95M1InxOXaKcM8_r5UKXAHIZ2DhTSlqXjAlNgjx6F9KMpzE2i69Cerd8TwjzzIOZNl8i6mw8gCcIKHvchZ71680F6grFvIst_Zhyphenhyphen80JfmmH9gT6siv_kJls4JQTzCJN13Dzd14/s1600/%C3%89tienne_Carjat,_Portrait_of_Charles_Baudelaire,_circa_1862.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0GUQ1J95M1InxOXaKcM8_r5UKXAHIZ2DhTSlqXjAlNgjx6F9KMpzE2i69Cerd8TwjzzIOZNl8i6mw8gCcIKHvchZ71680F6grFvIst_Zhyphenhyphen80JfmmH9gT6siv_kJls4JQTzCJN13Dzd14/s400/%C3%89tienne_Carjat,_Portrait_of_Charles_Baudelaire,_circa_1862.jpg"></a><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Baudelaire">Charles Baudelaire</a> (1821-1867)</span></div>
<br />
<br />
The French romantic poet Baudelaire put it most memorably in his poem “Le Voyage” (from the revised, 1861 version of his book <i>Les Fleurs du Mal </i>[The Flowers of Evil]):
<br />
<blockquote><i>Mais les vrais voyageurs sont ceux-là seuls qui partent<br />
Pour partir; cœurs légers, semblables aux ballons,<br />
De leur fatalité jamais ils ne s’écartent,<br />
Et, sans savoir pourquoi, disent toujours : Allons !<br />
…<br />
Plonger au fond du gouffre, Enfer ou Ciel, qu’importe ?<br />
Au fond de l’Inconnu pour trouver du </i>nouveau !<br />
<br />
[But the only true travellers are those who leave<br />
Just to leave; like balloons, their hearts lighter than air,<br />
Their fate is not something they could hope to survive,<br />
So, without knowing why, they just say: Let’s go!<br />
…<br />
To the depths of the abyss, Hell or Heaven, who cares?<br />
To the depths of the Unknown to find something <i>new</i>!]</blockquote>
<br />
What interests me most about the video for Icehouse’s “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZ4NuX0qWuY">Great Southern Land</a>”, though, is the degree to which this glamorous scenic vision depends on eliminating the human and everyday. The camera never descends from its position well above our heads, sweeping over each landscape with a bird’s-eye view.<br />
<br />
Particularity, people and participation are all absent from this scenario: “What is the use of a book without pictures or conversations?” was the opinion of Lewis Carroll’s Alice (in <i>Alice in Wonderland</i>), and I’m afraid that even five minutes of sweeping propaganda footage of wonderful Australia is about as much as the viewer can take. Be warned, then, that however glittering the views, readers will not tolerate very much scenic evocation before they want to start meeting some people and hearing some stories.<br />
<br />
The desire for escape from the everyday has received rather a bad press over the years. The very label “Escapism” implies that this is some kind of illness requiring diagnosis and treatment rather than a perfectly natural impulse.<br />
<br />
The impulse may be natural, but some of its manifestations can, admittedly, be unfortunate – wanting to skip out on your worldly responsibilities, to stop paying child support or interest on your debts, is equally understandable, perhaps, but it can have bad consequences for you and (more importantly) for other people.<br />
<br />
Perfect freedom may be an illusion, but it’s a very powerful one, and one of its most potent incarnations is in the desire for overseas travel: there, and there only – if only in our imaginations – can we be free of entanglements and humdrum commitments. Without that impulse, we might perhaps be happier, but we would also be less human.<br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<br />
<b><br /><span style="font-size: 130%;">•</span></b><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdgCc1j46jqIaliSxD6UcTsCNxC6G6FKyZGv4YmD8q0QQzcnU8vKpUH_-ZDqwHPCgM3NQlKFK3qB9b-W8ToaSwbjMhCV3HjC5Qu07TuBqrg_pvGuNWb6I9dEBCgDYydgUR1Glva-2hmqM/s1600-h/china1.gif" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5258219944367762930" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdgCc1j46jqIaliSxD6UcTsCNxC6G6FKyZGv4YmD8q0QQzcnU8vKpUH_-ZDqwHPCgM3NQlKFK3qB9b-W8ToaSwbjMhCV3HjC5Qu07TuBqrg_pvGuNWb6I9dEBCgDYydgUR1Glva-2hmqM/s400/china1.gif" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"></a><span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://www.nzepc.auckland.ac.nz/authors/hyde/china.asp">Robin Hyde in China</a> (1938)</span>
<br />
<b><br /><span style="font-size: 180%;">Workshop:</span><br /><span style="font-size: 130%;">Choosing the ideal destination</span></b><br />
<blockquote>
<br />
“... nothing could now pass which was not extraordinary; wherein I doubted some authors less consulted truth than their own vanity, or interest, or the diversion of ignorant readers.”<br />
– Jonathan Swift, <i>Gulliver’s Travels</i> (1726): 161-62.</blockquote>
<br /></div>
<br />
Discussion of the lecture topic: <br />
<ul><br />
<li>What makes a place memorable?</li>
<li>What are the reasons (respectable / less respectable) for writing about a particular place?</li>
</ul>
<br />
<div align="center">
<br />
<b>Self-characterisation Exercise</b></div>
<br />
<ul>
<li>Divide into pairs or groups. Each of you should write down three adjectives about yourself, then write down three <i>guesses</i> about your partner/s.</li>
<li>Confer together; discuss the image of yourself you might wish to portray in your writing.</li>
<li>Settle, as a group, on a summing-up statement about each one of you.</li>
</ul>
<br />
The important thing about a travel persona is that it should incorporate some <i>flaws</i>. Perfect people are boring to read about.<br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJsOaeWFl5W_oKEVaXkGDcuV1XlX0BSvjMMnhCpLw6pyR0XZYpO8hcsOlHVRxfX-sLTgGUYFDBYWJ62EXdJRZTdPoT5H_XyWcYCZeOixx6VpkH3eW998lj63MTdFu9rpJyBcjTp2sk8so/s1600-h/James+Hamilton-Paterson.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341372247511129298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJsOaeWFl5W_oKEVaXkGDcuV1XlX0BSvjMMnhCpLw6pyR0XZYpO8hcsOlHVRxfX-sLTgGUYFDBYWJ62EXdJRZTdPoT5H_XyWcYCZeOixx6VpkH3eW998lj63MTdFu9rpJyBcjTp2sk8so/s400/James+Hamilton-Paterson.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;"></a><span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/9002531@N06/1435496973">James Hamilton-Paterson fan</a> (2007)</span></div><br />
<br />
Dr Jack Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01077200107415470747noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1376927654532430295.post-8438348478441519852013-10-14T11:17:00.000+13:002019-12-10T08:46:29.668+13:00Lecture / Workshop 4<div align="center">
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifSbPDLWq457foMvWaguX6Xd9MI2-mVtTXPBMmjo1u8ml8bw8p64cStrNY1KmyDbpg4AVQVxeQR0oLNRvxaKWply96bOCNvwvW9maKV9-JJ7lXnbXXYlA2Y1f8vhRtx_S_B2ARncwf0BQ/s1600-h/stevebraunias1.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341373256501362834" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifSbPDLWq457foMvWaguX6Xd9MI2-mVtTXPBMmjo1u8ml8bw8p64cStrNY1KmyDbpg4AVQVxeQR0oLNRvxaKWply96bOCNvwvW9maKV9-JJ7lXnbXXYlA2Y1f8vhRtx_S_B2ARncwf0BQ/s400/stevebraunias1.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 200px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 392px;"></a><span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://www.lumiere.net.nz/reader/item/1293">Steve Braunias</a> (b.1960)</span>
<br />
<b><br /><span style="font-size: 180%;">Lecture 4:</span><br /><span style="font-size: 130%;">Where?</span><br />Close to Home</b></div>
<br />
<br />
Anthology texts to read:<br />
<ul><br />
<li><a href="http://www.bookcouncil.org.nz/writers/brauniasstephen.html">Steve Braunias</a>: 'Father’s Day' (2006)</li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Bryson">Bill Bryson</a>: from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lost_Continent:_Travels_in_Small-Town_America"><i>The Lost Continent: Travels in Small Town America</i></a> (1989)</li>
</ul>
<br />
<div align="center">
<br />
<span style="font-size: 130%;"><b><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVH7uBzQX7I">Don’t Leave Town Till You’ve Seen the Country</a></b></span></div>
<br />
What are the advantages to writers of choosing a nearby destination for their travel? Well, clearly it presents fewer logistical challenges. You can jump in the car (or on public transport ...) and be there in a jiffy. There’s also something to be said for <i>local knowledge </i>– what might require, for someone else, a long and arduous course of research in a library or online can be, for you, simply a matter of rounding up a few longtime friends and contacts as informants for your piece.<br />
<br />
Do you really <i>know </i>anything about your local area, though – let alone those distant regions ten or twenty miles away? The answer, somewhat depressingly, is often “no.” You <i>don’t</i> know your local history, the events that have occurred there, the celebrated (or eccentric) among the local inhabitants.<br />
<br />
So much the better. Time to find out. Maybe nothing interesting <i>has </i>ever happened anywhere near where you live, but I very much doubt it. It’s a bit like that scene in every classic horror film where the owner of the haunted house goes off to the public library and starts scrolling through old spools of the local paper, with increasingly hysterical splash headlines and creepy pictures on them.<br />
<br />
Surely there have been a few murders, some riots, haunted houses, terrible accidents, or other incidents somewhere near? If not, it could be quite interesting to speculate why not? Is your town (or suburb) Stepford, home of the infamous <i>Stepford Wives</i>? Is there someone keeping the truth from you – managing and massaging it for your own good?<br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHwofkQBS9G0TLJVz86Y-ujtqYwjCGsVZ_dZHakVD1XlzyJjgDzpyxiDxJiUsvghBjdsCmJkoVNf9ylnLWzv7vuqCv1ZOROrf6LiyN_Y4HJj9tYVJuHexJV3stNp8mgwW7JhPxc2NdioE/s1600/MV5BMTQ2NTQ1Mzc2NF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwMDE2NjAxMDE@._V1_SY481_SX320_.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHwofkQBS9G0TLJVz86Y-ujtqYwjCGsVZ_dZHakVD1XlzyJjgDzpyxiDxJiUsvghBjdsCmJkoVNf9ylnLWzv7vuqCv1ZOROrf6LiyN_Y4HJj9tYVJuHexJV3stNp8mgwW7JhPxc2NdioE/s400/MV5BMTQ2NTQ1Mzc2NF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwMDE2NjAxMDE@._V1_SY481_SX320_.jpg"></a><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073747/">The Stepford Wives</a> (1975)</span></div>
<br />
<br />There used to be an old ad campaign on New Zealand TV to promote local travel which incorporated the catchphrase: “Don’t Leave Town Till You’ve Seen the Country.” It showed a young New Zealander displaying his embarrassing ignorance of his own country abroad, and generally getting into trouble because he hadn’t done his research in advance (you can catch up with it on youtube <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVH7uBzQX7I">here</a>).<br />
<br />
If you <i>don’t</i> know anything about your own country, how deep are the insights you’ll be able to achieve into other people’s? If you hold the firm belief that New Zealand is the most boring country on earth, and all anyone could possibly want from it is a ticket out, then I have to say that you’re not living in the same country I am.<br />
<br />
New Zealand is no less (and, I suppose, no more) interesting than any other country. If you can’t rouse any curiosity in the rich complexities of our indigenous culture, then you <i>are</i> rather out of step with the international fascination for all things Māori and Polynesian.<br />
<br />
And, if you’re not interested in painters such as Colin McCahon or Rita Angus, writers such as Janet Frame and James K. Baxter, filmmakers such as Peter Jackson or Jane Campion, I would suggest – again – that the trend is against you. Audiences all around the world have found them, and the ways they’ve found to celebrate and interpret their native land, only too interesting.
<br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<br />
<b><br /><span style="font-size: 130%;">•</span></b><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7ND70Qcs6gM5ks6mqDEUqhTeSwpOMFjTh9BUeFm5tqpzWdp1kVidJc2-N7EXhR179BUuZvlUf4aMk4ZUWDys5kim_0u6UFi6A-ZKX-NjbfSLEkv3JiW7jzL59tPa64QhIKr0Jv31U1NM/s1600-h/death-of-the-neighbourhood-.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341451275763238578" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7ND70Qcs6gM5ks6mqDEUqhTeSwpOMFjTh9BUeFm5tqpzWdp1kVidJc2-N7EXhR179BUuZvlUf4aMk4ZUWDys5kim_0u6UFi6A-ZKX-NjbfSLEkv3JiW7jzL59tPa64QhIKr0Jv31U1NM/s400/death-of-the-neighbourhood-.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 359px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;"></a><span style="font-size: 85%;">Stephen Jones: <a href="http://www.clashmusic.com/reviews/death-the-neighbourhood-death-the-neighbourhood">Death of the Neighbourhood</a> (2009)</span>
<br />
<b><br /><span style="font-size: 180%;">Workshop:</span><br /><span style="font-size: 130%;">Sticking to your own backyard</span></b><br />
<blockquote>
<br />
“Noël Coward told a reporter that he avoided reading up on New Zealand before arriving in the country. ‘Descriptions and even photographs create impressions which are far from the reality. I have found it best to do one’s study after, and not before'.”<br />
– Lydia Monin, <i>From the Writer’s Notebook </i>(2006): 10.</blockquote>
<br /></div>
<br />
<ul><br />
<li>Analyse Chris Else’s book review of <i>Biografi</i></li>
<li>Why do people write book reviews?</li>
<li>Examples of common tropes / conventions</li>
<li>Why is it such a universal journalistic form?</li>
<li>What are their distinguishing features?</li>
</ul>
<br />
<div align="center">
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq6JbIc4QKpXWTmvVpFWYB8qPFwAwWbNBMTS5f-_byyEMuIaqreIgohG2a4oU2OIEb1beKqIKGXlWsn4breM7YN8SISwVG9z3-6zU-7LyKvHtIBb1RhfX5ybVRb8-UbW3pUFrtf5S7zmY/s1600/Bryson+Lost+Continent.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq6JbIc4QKpXWTmvVpFWYB8qPFwAwWbNBMTS5f-_byyEMuIaqreIgohG2a4oU2OIEb1beKqIKGXlWsn4breM7YN8SISwVG9z3-6zU-7LyKvHtIBb1RhfX5ybVRb8-UbW3pUFrtf5S7zmY/s320/Bryson+Lost+Continent.jpg"></a><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;">Bill Bryson: <a href="http://handmademaps.com/image/the-lost-continent-by-bill-bryson-the-folio-society/">The Lost Continent</a> (1989)</span></div><br />
<br />
Dr Jack Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01077200107415470747noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1376927654532430295.post-77058494498148486472013-10-13T11:17:00.000+13:002019-12-10T08:47:12.976+13:00Lecture / Workshop 3<div align="center">
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtq9GD4EER85yhilrp49y5e8PqjU1OTISKU406QX_niYlxAv8zqc0XD6Xw1qCm-DJ2DrAt2TsH6n-ZK2Pmeu6ij7z_EvRxF1KSGTyzoHqT3wGEplnimc83dFaOyhqQ9Vhyphenhyphen6HSFktwSvj0/s1600/220px-Kathy_Acker.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtq9GD4EER85yhilrp49y5e8PqjU1OTISKU406QX_niYlxAv8zqc0XD6Xw1qCm-DJ2DrAt2TsH6n-ZK2Pmeu6ij7z_EvRxF1KSGTyzoHqT3wGEplnimc83dFaOyhqQ9Vhyphenhyphen6HSFktwSvj0/s400/220px-Kathy_Acker.jpg"></a><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathy_Acker">Kathy Acker</a> (1947-1997)</span><br />
<b><br /><span style="font-size: 180%;">Lecture 3:</span><br /><span style="font-size: 130%;">Who?</span><br />The Unreliable Subject</b></div>
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<br />
Anthology texts to read:<br />
<ul><br />
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathy_Acker">Kathy Acker</a>: from <i>Kathy Goes to Haiti</i> (1978)</li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Else">Chris Else</a>: 'The Curious Case of <i>Biografi</i>' (1995)</li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lloyd_Jones_%28New_Zealand_author%29">Lloyd Jones</a>: from <i>Biografi: An Albanian Quest</i> (1993)</li>
</ul>
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<b><span style="font-size: 130%;">How Far Can You Go?</span></b></div>
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Last week we talked about ethnographers and “scientific” observers, who have the coherent and (relatively) straightforward project of reporting what they see in order to increase the sum of human knowledge. This week we move on to a far more ambiguous and subjective group of observers: travel writers – the “unreliable subject” abroad.
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<br />Kathy Acker’s <i>Kathy Goes to Haiti</i> is – ostensibly – presented as a novel. Nevertheless, the heroine shares the author’s first name, and parts of the book, at least, describe a set of travel experiences. This is no typical tourist travelogue, however. Passages of more or less straight description alternate with futile, monotonous conversations – together with explicit accounts of sexual encounters. Should one see this as <i>more</i> “truthful” than a conventional account of the realities behind a visit to this exotic locale, or less?
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<br />If this <i>is</i> travel literature (and the long pages of straight travelogue and description of Port au Prince would seem to suggest that it is at least partly meant as a parody of the wordier types of travel-book), it certainly presents some challenges to our sense of the boundaries of the genre.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirAffEECNT10iUYQM32WcM0-vGCw_fi27IPyUQYzdGtvoupy1rXT2GJI2lf569cub5H3cISgOjn3pTFbUD7-wW-JF9M6rt8bZtfARYgMk9Nsy8RsHHIlurRJBLvdKNeIWK62OmgjdCOA0/s1600/14797.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirAffEECNT10iUYQM32WcM0-vGCw_fi27IPyUQYzdGtvoupy1rXT2GJI2lf569cub5H3cISgOjn3pTFbUD7-wW-JF9M6rt8bZtfARYgMk9Nsy8RsHHIlurRJBLvdKNeIWK62OmgjdCOA0/s400/14797.jpg"></a><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://www.derringerbooks.com/shop/derringer/14797.html">Kathy Goes to Haiti</a> (1978)</span></div>
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<br />The question of how far you <i>can</i> go and still remain within standard definitions of a “travel writer” is asked even more directly by New Zealand writer Lloyd Jones’ <i>Biografi</i>. Or, rather, by Chris Else’s very perceptive <i>Landfall</i> review of the controversy over the book. Is it permissible to invent <i>both</i> of the main characters in your narrative and still be stocked in the <b>non-fiction</b> section of the bookshop? Readers and reviewers were – and are – divided on the issue, but I’m sure you can see the crucial importance of this question for what we’re trying to investigate in this course as a whole.
<br />
<br />Else uses an important term in his review. He talks of the writer’s responsibility to “a reality independent of their personal experience” (p. 98). He then goes on to introduce the question of what gives a writer authority to speak, without ever using that term directly:
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<blockquote>I spent two years in the Seventies teaching English as a second language at the university there [in Albania]. (p.101)</blockquote>
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That, it seems to me, is the vital distinction which enables him to criticise Jones’s book so cogently. He was <i>there</i>. He <i>knows</i> – better, it is implied, than Jones’s comparatively slight experience of the country could possibly enable him to know. “A book like <i>Biografi</i>,” Else concludes, “no matter how powerful a picture it presents, does not add much to what we already know.” (p.103)<br />
<br />
And, those of you who would like to look more closely into the politics of representation / exploitation of such “vulnerable” locations as Haiti (for example) might be interested to follow up by reading Giovanni Tiso's fascinating blogpost “<a href="http://bat-bean-beam.blogspot.co.nz/2010/01/haiti-in-3d.html">Haiti in 3D</a>”, which compares the media coverage of the 2010 Haitian earthquake to the naive neo-colonialist attitudes on display in James Cameron's blockbuster picture <i>Avatar</i>.
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<b><br /><span style="font-size: 130%;">•</span></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKRFUHMH-Hin-FvL6TcqQpnWu_FutvKJ69ao7oTNK2ZH5hQgH8NFju91gjN00bKTdF0fziSQSUUsNxM0u2wMmBS5J9WuthSJ8j5iMnitVGOVRTbEyXrK58qR-adwAtXzlQeBiFA3HFlbM/s1600-h/biografi2.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341449641835544690" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKRFUHMH-Hin-FvL6TcqQpnWu_FutvKJ69ao7oTNK2ZH5hQgH8NFju91gjN00bKTdF0fziSQSUUsNxM0u2wMmBS5J9WuthSJ8j5iMnitVGOVRTbEyXrK58qR-adwAtXzlQeBiFA3HFlbM/s400/biografi2.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 263px;"></a><span style="font-size: 85%;">Lloyd Jones: <a href="http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/j/lloyd-jones/biografi.htm">Biografi: A Traveller's Tale</a> (2008)</span><br />
<b><br /><span style="font-size: 180%;">Workshop:</span><br /><span style="font-size: 130%;">In-Class Test</span></b><br />
<blockquote>
<br />
“Travel writing … is generically elusive, as unwilling to give up its claims to documentary veracity as it is to waive its licence to rhetorical excess.”<br />
– Holland & Huggan, <i>Tourists with Typewriters</i> (1998): 12.</blockquote>
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<a href="http://albany139326.blogspot.co.nz/2013/10/close-reading.html">Asst 1: Close Reading</a><br />
Test (closed book)<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Worth:</span> 15%<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Duration:</span> One hour<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Requirements:</span> a pen & some paper</div>
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<br />
You will be given a short piece of travel writing, extracted from the anthology, and asked to write an analysis of it.<br />
<ul><br />
<li>What (in your opinion) is the main intention of the piece? How can you tell?</li>
<li>What material does the author focus on? Why do you think this is so?</li>
<li>How does the author portray him/herself?</li>
<li>How effectively does the author achieve his/her intentions?</li>
<br />Give clear quotes or examples to justify your reading.</ul>
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<div align="center">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_zbxEOhRkX1z_UQ4IHaMDcnrPKAdES8pFE0ejHAg4LxfLqSpMn7nt58smByaF7rXKVjrPJ4DmN85_17N-35cE3fXBwt3LvnCdu-L5TuSZQm-nMcmzCjbuqiu_CVLCY0tbKL1DKkznXYw/s1600/chris+else.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_zbxEOhRkX1z_UQ4IHaMDcnrPKAdES8pFE0ejHAg4LxfLqSpMn7nt58smByaF7rXKVjrPJ4DmN85_17N-35cE3fXBwt3LvnCdu-L5TuSZQm-nMcmzCjbuqiu_CVLCY0tbKL1DKkznXYw/s400/chris+else.jpg"></a><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/culture/6018611/Wellington-writers-awarded-top-spots">Chris Else</a> (1942- )</span></div><br />
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Dr Jack Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01077200107415470747noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1376927654532430295.post-39381595591328504182013-10-12T11:17:00.000+13:002019-12-10T08:50:15.622+13:00Lecture / Workshop 2<div align="center">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhthAK4uQdUeJr1E7qkG3LUnXola1MrBK8SvQ4AbKa39Jb3tFtjHgOwVl1M4ckJBMOX6F1NGNNHqzm57na9EGqWp8VcSeg8TN7n4-zTSwEs6LZCoSfb7ZfYj2xxo_JC0h7zvUA3hOm_2iY/s1600-h/Charles+Darwin+%28G.+Richmond%29.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341447518264252002" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhthAK4uQdUeJr1E7qkG3LUnXola1MrBK8SvQ4AbKa39Jb3tFtjHgOwVl1M4ckJBMOX6F1NGNNHqzm57na9EGqWp8VcSeg8TN7n4-zTSwEs6LZCoSfb7ZfYj2xxo_JC0h7zvUA3hOm_2iY/s400/Charles+Darwin+%28G.+Richmond%29.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 265px;"></a><span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://nayagam.wordpress.com/2006/02/12/celebrating-evolution/">Charles Darwin</a> (1809-1882)</span>
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<b><br /><span style="font-size: 180%;">Lecture 2:</span><br /><span style="font-size: 130%;">Who?</span><br />The Ethnographer</b></div>
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Anthology texts to read:<br />
<ul><br />
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_darwin">Charles Darwin</a>: from <span style="font-style: italic;">Charles Darwin's Beagle Diary</span> (1831-36)</li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Louise_Pratt">Mary Louise Pratt</a>: ‘Fieldwork in Common Places’ (1986)</li>
</ul>
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<b><span style="font-size: 130%;">Ethnographer or Travel Writer?</span></b></div>
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There are two basic models for the traveller:<br />
<ol><br />
<li><b>The Scientist</b><br /><br />Biologist, geologist, anthropologist. Basically, you go to a far-off (or nearby) place to do <i>fieldwork</i> - to observe, record, and finally write up and analyse your observations. In the case of the human sciences, this is the role of the <i>ethnographer</i>.</li>
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<li><b>The Writer</b><br /><br />This is a far more eclectic and unpredictable personage. Some writers are very well informed about the places they visit, others make a point out of emphasising just how <i>little</i> they know, thus stressing the freshness of their perceptions and insights. The bottom line here, though, is that if the end result isn't entertaining or interesting, the enterprise has failed.</li>
</ol>
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The most important thing to remember is this: both characters have a lot of the tourist in them, also. If you go to a place you don't already know well, then it goes without saying that your attitude to it will not be quite that of a native. There's a lot they know which they can't (or won't) communicate to you, but there's always the chance that you'll see things they don't because you have a wider scale of comparisons to apply.
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<br />Don't be ashamed of being a tourist, then – just try to minimise tourist vices such as superficiality, complacency and resentment of the unfamiliar.
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<br />Travel writing is now seen as a distinct genre, but it's instructive to realise just how recent a development this is. In the nineteenth century, a traveller such as Charles Darwin, hired as ship's naturalist on the surveying ship H. M. S. <i>Beagle</i>, was unaware of any such distinctions.
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<br />It was expected that he should keep notes on what he saw and collected, which would eventually form part of the official record of the voyage, but precisely what form this took was largely up to him. There were few precedents for what to include and what to leave out.
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<br />Darwin's <i>Journal of Researches </i>is a classic adventure story in its own right, but also because the discoveries he made then would eventually lead to the <i>Origin of Species </i>(1859) and the theory of evolution through natural selection.
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<br />It's worth noting that, though, that while Darwin's <i>Journal of Researches into the Geology and Natural History of the Various Countries Visited by H.M.S. 'Beagle' </i>was included as the third volume of the official account of the voyage, edited by Captain FitzRoy and published in 1839, his specifically scientific results were issued as <i>The Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. 'Beagle'</i>, in 5 vols (1839-43); and <i>The Geology of the Voyage of the 'Beagle'</i>, in 3 parts (1842, 1844, and 1846).
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<br />Darwin's <i>Journal </i>was a popular success, and was therefore reissued separately from the rest of Captain Fitzroy's account. Darwin subsequently revised and expanded it (slightly) for the second edition in 1845, the one we still read today as <i>The Voyage of the Beagle</i>.
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<br />If you want to talk about the theory of how one can observe and record details of an alien culture, though, perhaps the clearest analogy is with Heisenberg's Uncertainty principle (1927), which states that it is impossible to know both the exact position and the exact velocity of an object at the same time.
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<blockquote>
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This is not only a statement about the limitations of a researcher's ability to measure particular quantities of a system, following the tenets of logical positivism, it is a statement about the nature of the system itself. [<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncertainty_principle">Wikipedia</a>]</blockquote>
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In other words, by observing something, you alter its nature. The allegedly objective eye of the committed ethnographer cannot enter a cultural situation without altering it to some extent. The only question is the degree of influence exerted by his or her presence there. It is therefore not simply <i>desirable</i>, but <i>necessary </i>to admit some amount of subjectivity in the nature of one's observations of other cultures.
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<br />The relationship between observer and observed is a complex one, but that doesn't mean that there's nothing to <i>be</i> observed, and no distinctions to be made between the various ways in which you may choose to report your discoveries ...
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<b><br /><span style="font-size: 130%;">•</span></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifDZeOXLV_wQbMbZ_V9kh8z6mCwTey5V83HByA7tsjLfkdfY0CSJMdnUzm96VAsINo3uJFt4H7oSFYc9H-o1BlOMoK6hSH9r5E-Q9lPrjQTl4p6es-OFC-KDhTJJq3RTi4Jpz4kjofxBU/s1600-h/Darwin.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360378235366884754" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifDZeOXLV_wQbMbZ_V9kh8z6mCwTey5V83HByA7tsjLfkdfY0CSJMdnUzm96VAsINo3uJFt4H7oSFYc9H-o1BlOMoK6hSH9r5E-Q9lPrjQTl4p6es-OFC-KDhTJJq3RTi4Jpz4kjofxBU/s400/Darwin.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 274px;"></a><span style="font-size: 85%;">Charles Darwin: <a href="http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-DarJour-_N74739.html">Journal of Researches</a> (1839)</span>
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<b><br /><span style="font-size: 180%;">Workshop:</span><br /><span style="font-size: 130%;">Reasons for Travel</span></b><br />
<blockquote>
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“The use of travelling is to regulate imagination by reality,<br />
and instead of thinking how things may be,<br />
to see them as they are.”<br />
– Samuel Johnson</blockquote>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJMUHjjKdoyFvyNR6ff3Hk5xPuVhjzg18rLKt3j3klsXZuKwGaPm_8JXAZS6lFjEq7deZcQawC804bmrJwQZRexe_c3rO_v9iDxNdBOMkVNXqmCAUhMnnqJ2yfQwYYcA7MEdfr9YIMUfo/s1600/Image.gif" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJMUHjjKdoyFvyNR6ff3Hk5xPuVhjzg18rLKt3j3klsXZuKwGaPm_8JXAZS6lFjEq7deZcQawC804bmrJwQZRexe_c3rO_v9iDxNdBOMkVNXqmCAUhMnnqJ2yfQwYYcA7MEdfr9YIMUfo/s400/Image.gif"></a><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="https://slideplayer.com/slide/3941562/">Questions for Close Reading</a></span></div><br />
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Discussion of requirements for Close Reading Test.<br />
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Practice: Close Reading exercise.<br />
<ul><br />
<li>Why did the author go to that particular place?</li>
<li>What did they hope to find there?</li>
<li>What particular restraints / perspectives did their particular academic discipline / vocation impose?</li>
</ul>
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Analysis of past tests.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJrURqGOALiXKn0ql-k72oekuufsdQQF9281hgP01VA9e3mhzejfB6PRPMYv8sLntFIoG6nxevS8tU_XavbuR55Lj-6Cu5NwerbwCC3fvO3jo2A_uA6KqtpkIOm7c05ij98IBV5_R7G3Y/s1600/mlpratt.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJrURqGOALiXKn0ql-k72oekuufsdQQF9281hgP01VA9e3mhzejfB6PRPMYv8sLntFIoG6nxevS8tU_XavbuR55Lj-6Cu5NwerbwCC3fvO3jo2A_uA6KqtpkIOm7c05ij98IBV5_R7G3Y/s400/mlpratt.jpg"></a><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://www.thecelebritypix.com/Mary-Louise-Pratt.html">Mary Louise Pratt</a> (1948- )</span></div><br />
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Dr Jack Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01077200107415470747noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1376927654532430295.post-91030816673806883182013-10-11T11:15:00.000+13:002020-06-17T09:29:33.285+12:00Lecture / Workshop 1<div align="center">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0-fPgl3n3Z5kPH1ALrLpjZHzH-kTXk0Tz30_uw4Nx57pyVahQ71lLyYJ90F2lrUVfi9FvW7ugkdPvNsgcXV9FmmudRma7TgfJ2uxcScuwdV3KKm63G65xH6iCmXOSBjjqQwUnatQ2hgA/s1600-h/chatwin1.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257913926281802530" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0-fPgl3n3Z5kPH1ALrLpjZHzH-kTXk0Tz30_uw4Nx57pyVahQ71lLyYJ90F2lrUVfi9FvW7ugkdPvNsgcXV9FmmudRma7TgfJ2uxcScuwdV3KKm63G65xH6iCmXOSBjjqQwUnatQ2hgA/s400/chatwin1.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"></a><span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://photofinish.blogosfere.it/2008/07/viaggi-per-immagini-sulle-orme-di-bruce-chatwin.html">Bruce Chatwin</a> (1940-1989)</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: 180%;"><a href="https://webcast.massey.ac.nz/Mediasite/Play/1f44509ee492442fb081d637232ee98c1d">Lecture 1</a>:</span><br /><span style="font-size: 130%;">Who? Where? How? What? Why?</span></b></div>
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<br />
Anthology texts to read:<br />
<ul><br />
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Chatwin">Bruce Chatwin</a>: from <span style="font-style: italic;">In Patagonia</span> (1977)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.bookcouncil.org.nz/Writers/Profiles/Wells,%20Peter">Peter Wells</a>: 'Grin like a Dog,' from <span style="font-style: italic;">A Passion for Travel</span> (1998)</li>
</ul>
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<div align="center">
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<b><span style="font-size: 130%;">Travellers and Travel-Liars</span></b>
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<br />
<i>coelum non animum mutant qui trans mare currunt</i><br />
– Horace, <i>Epistles</i> 1: 11, l.27<br />
<br />
["those who cross the sea change skies, but not their souls"]</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMily98zYiekfy3IWTtNk8mgRUHBj0CkVI3kDYLGSWGO5lZIqSUsLC44Ml00SFL2YwLTBc5uF7vMcp8lGGlEbAOwJPxw0F8wDJO44OkmRxIjFDSoIX_3ctq_khSrsrBzy8lKA0SYHY4kk/s1600/HoracethePoet.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMily98zYiekfy3IWTtNk8mgRUHBj0CkVI3kDYLGSWGO5lZIqSUsLC44Ml00SFL2YwLTBc5uF7vMcp8lGGlEbAOwJPxw0F8wDJO44OkmRxIjFDSoIX_3ctq_khSrsrBzy8lKA0SYHY4kk/s400/HoracethePoet.jpg"></a><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;">Fedor Andreevich Bronnikov:<br />
<a href="http://www.crystalinks.com/horace.html">Horace reading to Maecenas</a></span></div><br />
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Travel broadens the mind. Or does it? Some would say that travel can have the opposite effect: narrowing the mind, confirming one's prejudices and presuppositions about other places and people.
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<br />What matters most, perhaps, is <i>how </i>you travel.
<br />
<br />If you don't know who you are already, the mere fact of going elsewhere is unlikely to tell you. And there are some exceptionally crass – air-conditioned and hermetically-sealed – ways to travel.
<br />
<br />The purpose of this course is to suggest some of the things you might like to look for when you next go travelling – and I would contend that that can take place as effectively within your own city or suburb as to some more exotic destination.
<br />
<br />The trick is to work out what you in particular have to offer as a travel writer. What are your talents, your fields of expertise? The course readings will present you with a variety of successful (and less successful) approaches you can take inspiration from.
<br />
<br />We'll therefore be beginning with some close analyses of other people's writing, but we'll then move on rapidly to invite you to apply the pointers you pick up from them.
<br />
<br />Travel is fun, but it's also arduous – even dangerous sometimes. Sitting in a sunlit tropical bar sampling daiquiris may seem like the acme of happiness on a grim midwinter day at home with the rain pelting down, but it palls very quickly. Nor is it particularly interesting to read about.
<br />
<br />So travel writing may seem like a pretty amorphous, come-one, come-all genre, but you still have to face that basic task of conveying something fascinating about where you happen to be sitting to readers who may not ever be there themselves.
<br />
<div align="center">
<br />
<b><br /><span style="font-size: 130%;">•</span></b></div><br />
<br />
I should emphasise, though, before we go any further, that this is not a course in travel journalism. Journalism is certainly an important part of travel writing, but it’s by no means the whole story.
<br />
<br />So if you’re here solely to get tips on how to write articles for <i>AA Directions </i>or <i>Kia Ora </i>(the Air New Zealand in-flight magazine), I have to tell you that you’ll have to put up with hearing about a great many other approaches to the creative non-fiction genre we call “travel writing” along the way.
<br />
<br />We will get there, but we’ll be taking the long way round – and isn’t that the nature of an interesting and worthwhile journey?
<br />
<br />I should also state that my definition of the term “travel” is pretty liberal. It doesn’t have to be overseas, out of town, or even – in extreme cases – outside the house to be a successful travel piece, in my opinion. The French writer Xavier de Maistre even wrote a very successful book called <i>Voyage autour de ma chambre </i>[A Voyage Around My Room] in 1794, while under house-arrest in Italy for duelling.
<br />
<br />Travel writing (for me, at any rate), is writing which is directed outwards: outside the self. Writing, in other words, which is interested in a larger world than the essentially interior and personal approach of Life Writing (biography or autobiography).
<br />
<br />That’s not to say that a clear view (and studied projection) of the self is not important in Travel Writing. It is. It’s just that the persona of the travel writer is a means to an end, not the end in itself. We may like or dislike our guides through the regions we visit: what’s important is that they engage us, that we end up listening to what they have to say.
<br />
<br />And, like any good guide, sometimes what they say to us is not so much the strict truth as it is the kind of thing that should be true, or is almost true but not quite. A certain amount of creative licence – extending at the very least to rearranging events to fit into a more compelling pattern, at worst to complete fiction – is also in the nature of the genre as it’s evolved over the past couple of centuries.
<br />
<br />I’ve therefore divided the course materials according to that old journalistic formula: “Who? Where? How? What? Why? – & When?” These are all legitimate questions to ask about travel writing and travel writers, and I’ve tried to approach them in order of importance.<br />
<ul><li><b>Who </b>is the travel writer? Or – who might he or she be?</li>
<li><b>Where </b>should one travel? Or – which types of places <i>have </i>particular writers visited and reported from?</li>
<li><b>How </b>is travel writing written? Or – what are the particular genres or approaches which have been most popular and successful to date?</li>
<li><b>What </b>should one write about? People, Events, Landscapes? What ought one’s writing to focus on?</li>
<li><b>Why </b>do it at all? For money? Free accommodation? Or – because it’s important to you (and by extension your target audience) somehow?</li>
<li><b>When </b>should you do it? To which the answer should be, invariably: right now.</li>
</ul>
<br />
Clearly most of these are rhetorical questions, with as many answers as there are practitioners of travel writing. I have, however, tried – in the two chapters devoted to each of these themes – to cover as many of the important approaches as possible.
<br />
<br />That’s not to say that I don’t have my own views on just how and why a writer should travel, but I’ve tried very hard not to impose my own views on you. It is, after all, a genre which encourages diversity and individuality of form.
<br />
<div align="center">
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<b><br /><span style="font-size: 130%;">•</span></b><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZzjT6nTMHYVzBB9sT1BO9qNmby1nxat1J21G2EPFByUq5b-kvFpklT8zWy79Oo42-Nq3WHX-vEqqwCIFuZ68A1MBXn4oLkdXeyta-nFpdy3NFomeY92tDv8Qd64zamTHZk246CxmO7xs/s1600/9899161023.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZzjT6nTMHYVzBB9sT1BO9qNmby1nxat1J21G2EPFByUq5b-kvFpklT8zWy79Oo42-Nq3WHX-vEqqwCIFuZ68A1MBXn4oLkdXeyta-nFpdy3NFomeY92tDv8Qd64zamTHZk246CxmO7xs/s400/9899161023.jpg"></a><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;">Percy G. Adams: <a href="http://www.abebooks.com/book-search/title/travelers-travel-liars-1660-1800/dust-jacket/page-1/">Travelers & Travel Liars</a> (1962)</span><br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: 180%;">Workshop:</span><br /><span style="font-size: 130%;">Where <i>have</i> you been?</span></b><br />
<blockquote>
<br />
“One of the minimum requirements of the travel writer<br />
is that he or she be a good listener.”<br />
– Holland & Huggan, <i>Tourists with Typewriters</i> (1998): 13.</blockquote>
<br /></div>
<br />
Discussion of the course structure, assessment & nature of the assignments.<br />
<br />
How we’ll be conducting the workshops – discussion of the prescribed texts and (in some cases) doing in-class writing exercises as a preparation for the assignments.<br />
<ul><br />
<li>What places have you visited – or lived in?</li>
<li>What records do you keep of your trip(s) / residence(s)? </li>
<li>What would you, personally, be interested in writing about?</li>
</ul>
<br />
<div align="center">
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIxpNg8-quJFMHi4HUHRNo1W0vbUkUwUeH94l3Xe1THYsiIBrq8qZ9LaEx1V7f4OqDYjxWUFcOOXDjVH10f-DuU990XTgXY3H4B3bXjL2CAkz1tlxhWa6jGgqCFzlwVx2gPZpPPrTgne8/s1600-h/Long+Loop+Home.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341445613209479794" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIxpNg8-quJFMHi4HUHRNo1W0vbUkUwUeH94l3Xe1THYsiIBrq8qZ9LaEx1V7f4OqDYjxWUFcOOXDjVH10f-DuU990XTgXY3H4B3bXjL2CAkz1tlxhWa6jGgqCFzlwVx2gPZpPPrTgne8/s400/Long+Loop+Home.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 254px;"></a><span style="font-size: 85%;">Peter Wells: <a href="http://www.writersfestival.co.nz/Home/WritersAZ/PeterWells.aspx">Long Loop Home</a> (2006)</span></div><br />
<br />
Dr Jack Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01077200107415470747noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1376927654532430295.post-4614073488357825092013-10-10T11:14:00.000+13:002019-12-10T08:51:37.308+13:00Final Project<div align="center">
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHV-9XEg_IiWn3PeaoMUqhcpe5JWm5c3RE8y9snFnUrZmU30v9a_VMrQOWfgYmApHQA2ShkiBf39jVOV0tGmu7u7PBANmQ3jiOiA8SlrxnqOs0LYKszuygbcpKj98eIuBJQtMQoU-AF0M/s1600-h/Bergman.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257844553231858098" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHV-9XEg_IiWn3PeaoMUqhcpe5JWm5c3RE8y9snFnUrZmU30v9a_VMrQOWfgYmApHQA2ShkiBf39jVOV0tGmu7u7PBANmQ3jiOiA8SlrxnqOs0LYKszuygbcpKj98eIuBJQtMQoU-AF0M/s400/Bergman.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"></a><span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/07/31/1992424.htm">Bergman at work</a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<b>Description:</b> Written Assignment<br />
<b>Worth:</b> 55%<br />
<b>Due:</b> By the end of week 13<br />
<b>Word-limit:</b> 3500 words<br />
<br />
<ul><br />
<li>This should be a written text, in any of the genres or formats we’ve discussed during the semester (travel narrative / filmscript / radio script / fiction).</li>
<br />
<li>You may include visual or even audiovisual material with the assignment if you wish, but the assessment will concentrate on the vividness and focus of your writing.</li>
<br />
<li>The subject matter should be a journey, or description of a locality of some sort.</li>
<br />
<li>The place or places should be real and not fictional (though certain parts of your narrative may be fictionalised, if you wish).</li>
<br />
<li>You may travel in the footsteps of another author, or use your own firsthand material.</li>
<br />
<li>If you wish to use notes or diaries from a past trip, be prepared to revise and supplement them considerably in order to create a compelling narrative.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<div align="center">
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPBci6amV01P5Eg0wadKPX8mVA6CGFdOZpxJW-OhQw5rxX5Asoa0qADSqYhmJEpGi3KDKIbdDUer0B5iqOv-KpJhG7AKj7NsURK5HC8BCaTf0evB38hyuOAhAUgivLhB1k4sAmsq46yW8/s1600-h/verne.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341464810520568946" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPBci6amV01P5Eg0wadKPX8mVA6CGFdOZpxJW-OhQw5rxX5Asoa0qADSqYhmJEpGi3KDKIbdDUer0B5iqOv-KpJhG7AKj7NsURK5HC8BCaTf0evB38hyuOAhAUgivLhB1k4sAmsq46yW8/s400/verne.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 367px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 329px;"></a><span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://library.duke.edu/blogs/music/2007/10/15/music-and-science-fiction/">Jules Verne at work</a></span></div><br />
<br />Dr Jack Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01077200107415470747noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1376927654532430295.post-56654532997534096022013-10-09T11:12:00.000+13:002020-07-16T09:42:32.686+12:00Local Travel Assignment<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOAiNF_laXo-RDXYe2rYMtnQVTBdRz7BC38114IvnhwjD8VtRr5hElqTrJ-IDuXmzfla7xtMRxMb2dV7FicuA9rlUOQJTlO94woPPIYaBO4nY5IUQawTAuxLvVD3am7NDcNLnHlH1TxJY/s1600-h/Transit+Remorse.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257831453735841778" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOAiNF_laXo-RDXYe2rYMtnQVTBdRz7BC38114IvnhwjD8VtRr5hElqTrJ-IDuXmzfla7xtMRxMb2dV7FicuA9rlUOQJTlO94woPPIYaBO4nY5IUQawTAuxLvVD3am7NDcNLnHlH1TxJY/s400/Transit+Remorse.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"></a><span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://non-binary.blogspot.com/2007_01_01_archive.html">Transit Remorse</a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<b>Worth:</b> 30%<br />
<b>Due:</b> By the end of week 7<br />
<b>Word-limit:</b> 2000 words<br />
<ul><br />
<li>Take public transport: bus / train / ferry to another part of your region (Auckland, for internal students; wherever you happen to be based, for distance students) – write a piece about your discoveries there.</li>
<br />
<li>This should not be a simple itinerary of where you went and what you saw.</li>
<br />
<li>You must create a scene or scenes, with characters and detailed interactions.</li>
<br />
<li>Decide on the overall significance of the many little details you see. Choose which aspects of your trip to emphasise accordingly.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfWeY7ETXxuKBFiy6vD4oQdf1VaoXp2o3entx8R-ObtP2iab6ZXbx8J1ahfwkYJiQZ6zqxN-K0FiscdnI292Uh45ihMrVLtNUw4yNMxyVDzFbAyyx8u6nBl-dG3GzJ3mBWZJIHYQsJ1IE/s1600-h/auckland+ferry+terminal.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341465816439401522" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfWeY7ETXxuKBFiy6vD4oQdf1VaoXp2o3entx8R-ObtP2iab6ZXbx8J1ahfwkYJiQZ6zqxN-K0FiscdnI292Uh45ihMrVLtNUw4yNMxyVDzFbAyyx8u6nBl-dG3GzJ3mBWZJIHYQsJ1IE/s400/auckland+ferry+terminal.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;"></a><span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://www.twip.org/image-oceania-new-zealand-auckland-ferry-building-auckland-ferry-terminal-en-10480-14541.html">Auckland Ferry Terminal</a></span></div><br />
<br />Dr Jack Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01077200107415470747noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1376927654532430295.post-11627288405059964392013-10-07T11:09:00.001+13:002021-01-29T09:28:54.765+13:00Close Reading<div align="center">
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip-lcAlrQA8A7xHCXBQxVF8Wl4dhIdDzzpS17tmMit3TU1I4sO_BtH4Nf-xLxH8_ld9rPsyw4jxjnIJ9qCh__L-07R6LFd3maDQPkMU6csk0fOmJzVyOp8WgDrz09SOVM_n9uznjXqlTQ/s1600-h/scholar.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257839911248592402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip-lcAlrQA8A7xHCXBQxVF8Wl4dhIdDzzpS17tmMit3TU1I4sO_BtH4Nf-xLxH8_ld9rPsyw4jxjnIJ9qCh__L-07R6LFd3maDQPkMU6csk0fOmJzVyOp8WgDrz09SOVM_n9uznjXqlTQ/s400/scholar.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"></a><span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://www.library.drexel.edu/blogs/librarylog/?p=140">The Scholar</a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<b>Description:</b> Short Writing Exercise<br />
<b>Worth:</b> 15%<br />
<b>Completed:</b> By the end of week 3<br />
<b>Length:</b> 500 words<br />
<br />
You will be given a short (unseen) piece of travel writing, and asked to write an analysis of it. Here are some of the points you should consider in your discussion of the passage:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>What (in your opinion) is the overall intention of the piece? How can you tell?</li>
<br />
<li>What material does the author focus on? Why do you think this is so?</li>
<br />
<li>How does the author portray him/herself?</li>
<br />
<li>How effectively does the author achieve his/her intentions?</li>
<br />
<li>Give clear quotes or examples to justify your reading.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<b>NB:</b> you should <i>not</i> write a separate response to each of these questions. Write a single answer in essay form, with connected paragraphs, not bullet points.<br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn54wI-kvqzCjlWFKJHxITYW6y43OnhSjiSf2U8_kJTcAhGKxx6UIywabsjc_-cd0bbmN_hAY0UlSnMl3umHvdpIFpAWSjYh7tPv8szToJS2KmqsAM9yrQ8VWLNH-5WiGMLoDuldx4u1g/s1600-h/turing_test.png"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341467982172623842" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn54wI-kvqzCjlWFKJHxITYW6y43OnhSjiSf2U8_kJTcAhGKxx6UIywabsjc_-cd0bbmN_hAY0UlSnMl3umHvdpIFpAWSjYh7tPv8szToJS2KmqsAM9yrQ8VWLNH-5WiGMLoDuldx4u1g/s400/turing_test.png" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 394px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;"></a><span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://xkcd.com/329/">Turing Test</a></span></div><br />
<br />Dr Jack Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01077200107415470747noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1376927654532430295.post-84847053375946886092013-10-06T11:07:00.000+13:002020-07-16T16:35:59.829+12:00Assignments<div align="center">
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzm1DEFIuqbXsVzUWQtouQhAPwGbMQaxuhBX5qIdRB1XThOYRThlShMM9JZlJIGs4pzqAemO4tr2oNwnDRNGmfeOnBaCZT23e3j7QfGF2H4e6-0rEOnPB7iYWXkpCRgbBL7lkYydmGKq8/s1600-h/beach-30.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257843221389826242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzm1DEFIuqbXsVzUWQtouQhAPwGbMQaxuhBX5qIdRB1XThOYRThlShMM9JZlJIGs4pzqAemO4tr2oNwnDRNGmfeOnBaCZT23e3j7QfGF2H4e6-0rEOnPB7iYWXkpCRgbBL7lkYydmGKq8/s400/beach-30.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"></a><span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://www.releasing.net/filmmaker/">Collaboration</a></span><br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: 130%;">Assessment:</span></b></div>
<br />
<br />
This is a 15 credit paper, 100 percent internally assessed. This is how the marks are divided up:<br />
<br />
<b>Title:</b> <a href="http://albany139326.blogspot.com/2013/10/close-reading.html">Close Reading</a><br />
<br />
<i>Internal Students:</i><br />
<b>Description:</b> Assignment 1: In-class Test<br />
<b>Worth:</b> 15%<br />
<b>Sat:</b> Workshop Session 3<br />
<b>Duration:</b> One hour<br />
<b>Requirements:</b> a pen & some paper<br />
<br />
<i>Distance Students:</i><br />
<b>Description:</b> Assignment 1: Short writing exercise<br />
<b>Worth:</b> 15%<br />
<b>Due in:</b> By the end of week 3<br />
<b>Length:</b> 500 words<br />
<ul><br />
<li>You will be given - or sent - a short (unseen) piece of travel writing, and asked to write an analysis of it.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: 130%;">•</span></b></div>
<br />
<br />
<b>Title:</b> <a href="https://albany139326.blogspot.com/2013/10/local-travel-assignment.html">Local Travel Assignment</a><br />
<b>Description:</b> Assignment 2<br />
<b>Worth:</b> 30%<br />
<b>Due in:</b> By the end of week 7<br />
<b>Length:</b> 2000 words<br />
<ul><br />
<li>Take public transport: bus / train / ferry to another part of your region (Auckland, for internal students; wherever you happen to be based, for distance students) – write a piece about your discoveries there.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<b>2020 variant:</b> <a href="https://albany139326.blogspot.com/2013/10/exploring-your-own-space-assignment.html">Exploring Your Own Space Assignment</a><br />
<b>Description:</b> Assignment 2<br />
<b>Worth:</b> 30%<br />
<b>Due in:</b> By the end of week 7<br />
<b>Length:</b> 2000 words<br />
<ul><br />
<li>Think about the space – house, apartment, hostel room – you are staying in right now. Tell us about it: how you found your way there, or the story of one or more of the objects it contains, or the strains and social manoeuvring you have to endure to live there.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: 130%;">•</span></b></div>
<br />
<br />
<b>Title:</b> <a href="http://albany139326.blogspot.com/2013/10/final-project.html">Final project</a><br />
<b>Description:</b> Assignment 3<br />
<b>Worth:</b> 55%<br />
<b>Due in:</b> By the end of week 13<br />
<b>Length:</b> 3500 words<br />
<ul><br />
<li>This should be a written text, in any of the genres or formats we’ve discussed during the semester (travel narrative / filmscript / radio script.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<b>= 100 %</b><br />
<br />
<b>NB:</b> All three assignments are compulsory. You do not have to have <i>passed</i> each of them in order to pass the course, but you do have to have at least handed them in for grading.<br />
<br />
There will be a lot of demands made on your organizational abilities in this course. Think ahead, and make sure you always come to class prepared.<br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPEeBJVhIfwjHJ-SAbVwPBHau-XlPof6y2V4dK86iUVj4GB8LRmaVk2g5n9GBgcVXs0wqyjIOzWK8xZcn-ONTd7t6nl3c1SD4p2e6PMC-PR4sjcjw8jExkXRsQ51uux2a7TvjHZLnnYJ4/s1600-h/captain+nemo.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341463719499236066" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPEeBJVhIfwjHJ-SAbVwPBHau-XlPof6y2V4dK86iUVj4GB8LRmaVk2g5n9GBgcVXs0wqyjIOzWK8xZcn-ONTd7t6nl3c1SD4p2e6PMC-PR4sjcjw8jExkXRsQ51uux2a7TvjHZLnnYJ4/s400/captain+nemo.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 273px;"></a><span style="font-size: 85%;">Jules Verne: <a href="http://www.davidjderus.com/blog/">20,000 Leagues under the Sea</a> (1870)</span></div><br />
<br />Dr Jack Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01077200107415470747noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1376927654532430295.post-26269146083843694032013-10-05T11:06:00.000+13:002019-12-10T08:53:30.051+13:00Bibliography<div align="center">
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgamwlHJ-oitDf2-gKHiNjRaL-51uN6HsyWwR5W3XMWPmxHMvNkv0Yhr1daaPTD35p_3RI2Fck87GiU9lYUwUCJeaPM_kiX3DAfcBQox9G2umhJluzRMGwLGVDt26-CY6YO5BQ3X0Txx0E/s1600-h/open-road.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257951987062617586" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgamwlHJ-oitDf2-gKHiNjRaL-51uN6HsyWwR5W3XMWPmxHMvNkv0Yhr1daaPTD35p_3RI2Fck87GiU9lYUwUCJeaPM_kiX3DAfcBQox9G2umhJluzRMGwLGVDt26-CY6YO5BQ3X0Txx0E/s400/open-road.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"></a><span style="font-size: 85%;">Laurie Gough: <a href="http://www.lauriegough.com/passions.html">The Open Road</a></span><br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: 180%;">Course Anthology</span></b></div>
<br />
<b>Categories:</b><br />
<blockquote>
<a class="style23" href="http://albany139326.blogspot.com/2013/10/bibliography.html#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title="">Primary Texts</a><br />
<a class="style23" href="http://albany139326.blogspot.com/2013/10/bibliography.html#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" title="">Suggested Further Reading</a></blockquote>
<br />
<div align="center">
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjhbIiMCuDnQ4Yvvj2U57GdupwZahS1Zj-9lsbrTZuMiMct_5EVPdT7j3wMm8bUsIW9CU-NoLhOILbOVq94AOsoSQMXBN-qWS8LEZJGqPqTkRg2pimkRegOqvf4ca1gOGRyf2IE3MeNH8/s1600-h/sacramento.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341462398074410690" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjhbIiMCuDnQ4Yvvj2U57GdupwZahS1Zj-9lsbrTZuMiMct_5EVPdT7j3wMm8bUsIW9CU-NoLhOILbOVq94AOsoSQMXBN-qWS8LEZJGqPqTkRg2pimkRegOqvf4ca1gOGRyf2IE3MeNH8/s400/sacramento.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 388px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;"></a><span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://sachistoryart.com/collection2.html">Sacramento Waterfront</a> (1869)</span><br />
<br />
<div id="ftn1">
<a href="http://albany139326.blogspot.com/2013/10/bibliography.html#_ftn1" name="_ftn1" title=""><b><span style="font-size: 130%;">Primary Texts</span></b></a></div>
</div>
<br />
<ol><br />
<li>Acker, Kathy. <i>Kathy Goes to Haiti</i>. 1989. London: Pandora, 1990. 5-32.</li>
<br />
<li>Auden, W. H. & Louis MacNeice. <i>Letters from Iceland</i>. London: Faber, 1937. 25-30 & 60-65.</li>
<br />
<li>Bashō, Matsuo. <i>The Narrow Road to the Deep North, and Other Travel Sketches</i>. Trans. Nobuyuki Yuasa. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1966. 97-143.</li>
<br />
<li>Braunias, Steve. ‘Father’s Day.’ <i>Sunday: The Sunday Star-Times Magazine</i> (28 January, 2007): 50.</li>
<br />
<li>Bryson, Bill. <i>The Lost Continent: Travels in Small Town America</i>. 1989. London: Secker & Warburg, 1993. 3-12.</li>
<br />
<li>Calvino, Italo. <i>Invisible Cities</i>. 1972. Trans William Weaver. 1974. London: Picador, 1979. 10-13, 20-21, 106-09 & 126-27.</li>
<br />
<li>Chatwin, Bruce. <i>In Patagonia</i>. 1977. London: Vintage, 1998. 1-9.</li>
<br />
<li>Conrad, Joseph. 'Heart of Darkness.' 1899. In <i>Youth: A Narrative; Heart of Darkness; The End of the Tether</i>. 1902. Ed. A. J. Hoppé. Everyman’s Library. London: Dent, 1967. 60-77.</li>
<br />
<li>Conrad, Joseph. <i>Congo Diary and Other Uncollected Pieces</i>. Ed. Zdzislaw Najder. New York: Doubleday, 1978. 7-16.</li>
<br />
<li>Darwin, Charles. <i>Charles Darwin’s Beagle Diary</i>. Ed. Richard Darwin Keynes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988. 380-95.</li>
<br />
<li>Edmond, Martin. <i>Luca Antara: Passages in Search of Australia</i>. Adelaide, South Australia: East Street Publications, 2006. 195-215.</li>
<br />
<li>Else, Chris. 'Fact or Fiction: The Curious Case of <i>Biografi</i>.' <i>Landfall</i> 189 (1995): 58-65.</li>
<br />
<li>Hamilton, Scott. ‘<a href="http://readingthemaps.blogspot.com/2006/05/from-kalmykia-to-huntly.html">From Kalmykia to Huntly</a>.’ In <i>Reading the Maps</i> (2006).</li>
<br />
<li>Hamilton-Paterson, James. ‘The End of Travel.’ <i>Granta 94: On the Road Again – Where Travel Writing Went Next</i> (Summer, 2006): 221-34.</li>
<br />
<li>Hogg, Colin. <i>Angel Gear: On the Road with Sam Hunt</i>. Auckland: Heinemann Reed, 1989. 89-102.</li>
<br />
<li>Hyde, Robin. <i>Dragon Rampant</i>. London: Hurst & Blackett, 1939. 20-33 & 305-18.</li>
<br />
<li>Jones, Lloyd. <i>Biografi: An Albanian Quest</i>. Wellington: Victoria University Press, 1993. 1-13.</li>
<br />
<li>Kroeber, Theodora. <i>Ishi in Two Worlds: A Biography of the Last Wild Indian in North America</i>. Berkeley & Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1961. 3-23.</li>
<br />
<li><i>Lonely Planet New Zealand</i>. 1977. Ed. Carolyn Bain, George Dunford, Korina Miller, Sally O’Brien & Charles Rawlings-Way. Footscray, Victoria: Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd, 2006. 20-30 & 101-5.</li>
<br />
<li>Mawson, Douglas. <i>Mawson’s Antarctic Diaries</i>. Ed. Fred Jacka & Eleanor Jacka. 1988. North Sydney: Susan Haynes / Allen & Unwin, 1991. 127-29, 147-48, 150-51, 157-59, 170-72 & 174.</li>
<br />
<li>Polo, Marco. <i>The Travels</i>. Trans. Ronald Latham. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1958. 38-45.</li>
<br />
<li>Pratt, Mary Louise. ‘Fieldwork in Common Places.’ In <i>Writing Culture: The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography</i>. Ed. James Clifford & George E. Marcus. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986. 27-50.</li>
<br />
<li>Sacco, Joe. <i>Safe Area Goražde</i>. 2000. Seattle, WA: Fantagraphics Books, 2005. i-ii, 1-7 & 50-56.</li>
<br />
<li>Schlosser, Eric. <i>Fast Food Nation: What the All-American Meal is Doing to the World</i>. London: Allen Lane, 2001. 224-39 & 249-52.</li>
<br />
<li>Theroux, Paul. <i>The Happy Isles of Oceania: Paddling the Pacific</i>. 1992. New York: Ballantine Books, 1993. 17-24, 234-38 & 424-34.</li>
<br />
<li>Thompson, Hunter S. <i>Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream</i>. 1971. London: Paladin, 1972. 11-29.</li>
<br />
<li>Van Bohemen, Catharina. ‘Safari.’ In <i>A Passion for Travel: New Zealand Writers and their Adventures Overseas</i>. Ed. Tina Shaw. Auckland: Tandem Press, 1998. 85-100.</li>
<br />
<li>Wells, Peter. ‘Grin like a Dog.’ In <i>A Passion for Travel: New Zealand Writers and their Adventures Overseas</i>. Ed. Tina Shaw. Auckland: Tandem Press, 1998. 101-12.</li>
</ol>
<br />
<div align="center">
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeNXr7y2niSWxTutBoS2VHFe_dmzsZ3Tn20FruJC9p57G3Yo3wJidTbVC_cjgIURFCRu6u9iUdnCOmoLkcT_NYrwNVU9N5oTnfDyN_Lz6uX-7y2cM2LvHhSqKNW4YzVK2AOLLRv4EiEbQ/s1600-h/1388532-2-the-traveller.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439019346665932802" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeNXr7y2niSWxTutBoS2VHFe_dmzsZ3Tn20FruJC9p57G3Yo3wJidTbVC_cjgIURFCRu6u9iUdnCOmoLkcT_NYrwNVU9N5oTnfDyN_Lz6uX-7y2cM2LvHhSqKNW4YzVK2AOLLRv4EiEbQ/s400/1388532-2-the-traveller.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;"></a><span style="font-size: 85%;">Nuh Sarche: <a href="http://www.redbubble.com/people/nuhsarche/art/1388532-4-the-traveller">The Traveller</a></span><br />
<br />
<div id="ftn2">
<a href="http://albany139326.blogspot.com/2013/10/bibliography.html#_ftn2" name="_ftn2" title=""><b><span style="font-size: 130%;">Suggested Further Reading</span></b></a></div>
</div>
<br />
<ul><br />
<li>Acker, Kathy. 'Kathy Goes to Haiti.' In <i>Literal Madness: Three Novels</i>. New York: Grove Press, 1988.</li>
<br />
<li>Botton, Alain de. <i>The Art of Travel</i>. 2002. London: Vintage, 2004.</li>
<br />
<li>Dodd, Philip, ed. <i>The Art of Travel: Essays on travel writing</i>. Totowa, N.J.: Frank Cass, 1982.</li>
<br />
<li>Duncan, James & Derek Gregory. <i>Writes of Passage: Reading travel writing</i>. London: Routledge, 1999.</li>
<br />
<li>Frawley, Maria H. <i>A Wider Range: Travel Writing by Women in Victorian England</i>. London & Toronto: Associated University Presses, 1994.</li>
<br />
<li>Fussell, Paul. <i>Abroad: British Literary Travelling between the Wars</i>. New York: Oxford University Press, 1980.</li>
<br />
<li>Glage, Liselotte, ed. <i>Being/s in Transit: Travelling, Migration, Dislocation</i>. Amsterdam & Atlanta, GA: Rodopi, 2000.</li>
<br />
<li>Guthrie-Smith, William. <i>Tutira; The Story of a New Zealand Sheep Station</i>. Wellington: Reed, 1969.</li>
<br />
<li>Holland, Patrick & Graham Huggan. <i>Tourists with Typewriters: Critical Reflections on Contemporary Travel Writing</i>. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1998.</li>
<br />
<li>Hooper, Glenn, Tim Youngs, ed. <i>Perspectives on travel writing</i>. Aldershot, Hants: Ashgate, 2004.</li>
<br />
<li>Horrocks, Ingrid & Cherie Lacey, ed. <i>Extraordinary Anywhere: Essays on Place from Aotearoa New Zealand</i>. Wellington: Victoria University Press, 2016.</li>
<br />
<li>Hulme, Peter, & Tim Youngs. <i>The Cambridge Companion to Travel Writing</i>. Cambridge & New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002.</li>
<br />
<li>Kaplan, Caren. <i>Questions of Travel: Postmodern discourses of displacement</i>. Durham, N.C: Duke University Press, 1996.</li>
<br />
<li>Keene, Donald. <i>Travelers of a Hundred Ages: The Japanese as Revealed Through 1,000 Years of Diaries</i>. 1989. New York: Columbia University Press, 1999.</li>
<br />
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Kerouac">Kerouac, Jack</a>. <span style="font-style: italic;">On the Road: The Original Scroll</span>. 1957. Ed. Howard Cunnell. Introductions by Howard Cunnell, Penny Vlagopoulos, George Mouratidis, Joshua Kupetz. 2007. Penguin Classics. London: Penguin, 2008.</li>
<br />
<li>Kowalewski, Michael, ed. <i>Temperamental Journeys: Essays on the modern literature of travel</i>. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1992.</li>
<br />
<li>Kroeber, Theodora. <i>Ishi, Last of His Tribe</i>. Drawings by Ruth Robbins. Oakland, California: Parnassus Press / Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1964.</li>
<br />
<li>Mawson, Douglas. <i>The Home of the Blizzard: The Story of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-1914</i>. 1915. Adelaide: Wakefield Press, 1996.</li>
<br />
<li>Monin, Lydia. <i>From the Writer’s Notebook: Around New Zealand with 80 Authors</i>. Auckland: Reed, 2006.</li>
<br />
<li>O’Neil, L. Peat. <i>Travel Writing</i>. Cincinnati, Ohio: Writer's Digest Books, 1996.</li>
<br />
<li>Porter, Dennis. <i>Haunted Journeys: Desire and Transgression in European Travel Writing</i>. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1991.</li>
<br />
<li>Pratt, Mary-Louis. <i>Imperial Eyes: Travel Writing and Transculturation</i>. London & New York: Routledge, 1992.</li>
<br />
<li>Rennie, Neil. <i>Far-fetched Facts: The literature of travel and the idea of the South Seas</i>. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995.</li>
<br />
<li>Russell, Alison. <i>Crossing Boundaries: Postmodern travel literature</i>. New York: Palgrave/St. Martin's Press, 2000.</li>
<br />
<li>Strassberg, Richard E, ed & trans. <i>Inscribed Landscapes: Travel Writing from Imperial China</i>. Berkeley: Univ. of Calif. Press, 1994.</li>
<br />
<li>Taussig, Michael T. <i>Shamanism, Colonialism and the Wild Man: A Study in Terror and Healing</i>. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1986.</li>
<br />
<li>Wevers, Lydia. <i>Country of Writing: Travel Writing and New Zealand, 1809-1900</i>. Auckland: Auckland University Press, 2002.</li>
<br />
<li>Wevers, Lydia, ed. <i>Travelling to New Zealand: An Oxford Anthology</i>. Auckland: Oxford University Press, 2000.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<div align="center">
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk4c_Y5aJDkgdsvW9wwhcECmztxPgEsTSLeDe07sLAsAnuUIU2cFJHt85NPYGTpliib0scB8JZEV2UzHHiXJW_Ig25xyDo4YpZ9GTuf_PH_2Rac8T0KinyEieBYb7VX6cSUHDW_z-jmJk/s1600-h/martin+edmond.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341436261042641234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk4c_Y5aJDkgdsvW9wwhcECmztxPgEsTSLeDe07sLAsAnuUIU2cFJHt85NPYGTpliib0scB8JZEV2UzHHiXJW_Ig25xyDo4YpZ9GTuf_PH_2Rac8T0KinyEieBYb7VX6cSUHDW_z-jmJk/s400/martin+edmond.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 271px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;"></a><span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://www.nzepc.auckland.ac.nz/features/bluff06/index.asp#pictures">Martin Edmond</a> (Bluff, 2006)</span></div><br />
<br />
Dr Jack Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01077200107415470747noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1376927654532430295.post-47772797298793821672013-10-04T11:04:00.002+13:002021-03-29T09:30:09.569+13:00Course Timetable<div align="center">
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs5i8MHD0G4t9yOhIKGHMx25kLzYuR1nTMmGhBNSmO89UnEz4x4tsiy-jrz0X393wKNJP_VwSDUvizvbVEC36d1cpbi8we1oktQHkLtpzHaLmTiKRMt8NqvmykrnOF6Kqh2pgQap1URKI/s1600-h/3816.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257945255329597586" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs5i8MHD0G4t9yOhIKGHMx25kLzYuR1nTMmGhBNSmO89UnEz4x4tsiy-jrz0X393wKNJP_VwSDUvizvbVEC36d1cpbi8we1oktQHkLtpzHaLmTiKRMt8NqvmykrnOF6Kqh2pgQap1URKI/s400/3816.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"></a><span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://www.travelwritingtips.com/html/sponsors.html">Travel Writing Tips</a></span><br />
<b><br /><span style="font-size: 130%;">2021</span></b></div>
<br />
<blockquote>
<b><a href="http://www.massey.ac.nz/massey/learning/programme-course/semester-dates.cfm">Semester Dates</a> (Massey University)</b><ul>
<li><b>Beginning of Semester 1 (Wk 1):</b> Monday 22nd February 2021</li>
<li><b>Mid-semester Break:</b> Friday 2nd April – Friday 16th April 2021</li>
<li><b>End of Teaching (Wk 12):</b> Friday 28th May 2021</li>
</ul></blockquote>
<br />
<div align="center">
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: 130%;">•</span></b></div><br />
<br />
<b><a href="http://albany139326.blogspot.com/2013/10/lecture-workshop-1.html">Lecture 1</a>:<br />
</b><br />
<div align="center">
<b><span style="font-size: 130%;">Who? Where? How? What? Why?</span></b></div>
<br />
<blockquote>
Anthology texts to read:<br />
<ul>
<li>Bruce Chatwin. from <span style="font-style: italic;">In Patagonia</span> (1977)</li>
<li>Peter Wells. 'Grin like a Dog' (1998)</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://albany139326.blogspot.com/2013/10/lecture-workshop-1.html">Workshop</a></b>: Where <i>have</i> you been?<br />
<div align="center">
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: 130%;">•</span></b></div><br />
<br />
<b><a href="http://albany139326.blogspot.com/2013/10/lecture-workshop-2.html">Lecture 2</a>:<br />
</b><br />
<div align="center">
<b><span style="font-size: 130%;">Who?</span></b><br />
<b>Ethnographer</b></div>
<blockquote>
<br />
Anthology texts to read:<br />
<ul>
<li>Charles Darwin. from <span style="font-style: italic;">Charles Darwin’s Beagle Diary</span> (1831-36)</li>
<li>Mary Louise Pratt. ‘Fieldwork in Common Places’ (1986)</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://albany139326.blogspot.com/2013/10/lecture-workshop-2.html">Workshop</a></b>: Reasons for travel<br />
<div align="center">
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: 130%;">•</span></b></div><br />
<br />
<b><a href="http://albany139326.blogspot.com/2013/10/lecture-workshop-3.html">Lecture 3</a>:<br />
</b><br />
<div align="center">
<b><span style="font-size: 130%;">Who?</span></b><br />
<b>Unreliable Subject</b></div>
<blockquote>
<br />
Anthology texts to read:<br />
<ul>
<li>Kathy Acker. from <span style="font-style: italic;">Kathy Goes to Haiti</span> (1978)</li>
<li>Chris Else. ‘Fact or Fiction: the Curious Case of <i>Biografi</i>’ (1995)</li>
<li>Lloyd Jones. from <span style="font-style: italic;">Biografi: An Albanian Quest</span> (1993)</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://albany139326.blogspot.com/2013/10/lecture-workshop-3.html">Workshop</a></b>: In-class test<br />
<div align="center">
<br />
<b>Due in end of week 3:</b><br />
<a href="http://albany139326.blogspot.com/2013/10/close-reading.html">Asst 1: Close reading</a> (15%)</div>
<br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: 130%;">•</span></b></div><br />
<br />
<b><a href="http://albany139326.blogspot.com/2013/10/lecture-workshop-4.html">Lecture 4</a>:<br />
</b><br />
<div align="center">
<b><span style="font-size: 130%;">Where?</span></b><br />
<b>Close to Home</b></div>
<blockquote>
<br />
Anthology texts to read:<br />
<ul>
<li>Steve Braunias. 'Father’s Day' (2006)</li>
<li>Bill Bryson. from <span style="font-style: italic;">The Lost Continent: Travels in Small Town America</span> (1989)</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://albany139326.blogspot.com/2013/10/lecture-workshop-4.html">Workshop</a></b>: Sticking to your own backyard<br />
<div align="center">
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: 130%;">•</span></b></div><br />
<br />
<b><a href="http://albany139326.blogspot.com/2013/10/lecture-workshop-5.html">Lecture 5</a>:<br />
</b><br />
<div align="center">
<b><span style="font-size: 130%;">Where?</span></b><br />
<b>Further Afield</b></div>
<blockquote>
<br />
Anthology texts to read:<br />
<ul>
<li>James Hamilton-Paterson. 'The End of Travel' (2006)</li>
<li>Robin Hyde. from <i>Dragon Rampant</i> (1939)</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://albany139326.blogspot.com/2013/10/lecture-workshop-5.html">Workshop</a></b>: Choosing the ideal destination<br />
<div align="center">
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: 130%;">•</span></b></div><br />
<br />
<b><a href="http://albany139326.blogspot.com/2013/10/lecture-workshop-6.html">Lecture 6</a>:<br />
</b><br />
<div align="center">
<b><span style="font-size: 130%;">How?</span></b><br />
<b>Traditional Genres</b></div>
<blockquote>
<br />
Anthology texts to read:<br />
<ul>
<li>Matsuo Bashō. <i>Narrow Road to the Deep North</i> (1694)</li>
<li>Theodora Kroeber. from <span style="font-style: italic;">Ishi in Two Worlds</span> (1961)</li>
<li>Douglas Mawson. from <span style="font-style: italic;">Antarctic Diaries</span> (1911-14)</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://albany139326.blogspot.com/2013/10/lecture-workshop-6.html">Workshop</a></b>: In the footsteps of ...<br />
<div align="center">
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: 130%;">•</span></b><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 130%;">[<b>MID-SEMESTER BREAK</b>]</span></div>
<br />
<div align="center">
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: 130%;">•</span></b></div><br />
<br />
<b><a href="http://albany139326.blogspot.com/2013/10/lecture-workshop-7.html">Lecture 7</a>:<br />
</b><br />
<div align="center">
<b><span style="font-size: 130%;">How?</span></b><br />
<b>Hybrid Genres</b></div>
<blockquote>
<br />
Anthology texts to read:<br />
<ul>
<li>W. H. Auden. from <span style="font-style: italic;">Letters from Iceland</span> (1937)</li>
<li>Colin Hogg. from <span style="font-style: italic;">Angel Gear: On the Road with Sam Hunt</span> (1989)</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://albany139326.blogspot.com/2013/10/lecture-workshop-7.html">Workshop</a></b>: Who <i>might</i> you be?<br />
<div align="center">
<br />
<b>Due in end of week 7:</b><br />
<a href="https://albany139326.blogspot.com/2013/10/local-travel-assignment.html">Asst 2: Local Travel Piece</a> (30%)</div>
<br />
<div align="center">
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: 130%;">•</span></b></div><br />
<br />
<b><a href="http://albany139326.blogspot.com/2013/10/lecture-workshop-8.html">Lecture 8</a>:<br />
</b><br />
<div align="center">
<b><span style="font-size: 130%;">What?</span></b><br />
<b>People</b></div>
<blockquote>
<br />
Anthology texts to read:<br />
<ul>
<li>Paul Theroux. from <span style="font-style: italic;">The Happy Isles of Oceania: Paddling the Pacific</span> (1992)</li>
<li>Catharina van Bohemen. 'Safari '(1998)</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://albany139326.blogspot.com/2013/10/lecture-workshop-8.html">Workshop</a></b>: Anatomy of a neighbour<br />
<div align="center">
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: 130%;">•</span></b></div><br />
<br />
<b><a href="http://albany139326.blogspot.com/2013/10/lecture-workshop-9.html">Lecture 9</a>:<br />
</b><br />
<div align="center">
<b><span style="font-size: 130%;">What?</span></b><br />
<b>Places & Events</b></div>
<blockquote>
<br />
Anthology texts to read:<br />
<ul>
<li>Joe Sacco. from <span style="font-style: italic;">Safe Area Goražde</span> (2000)</li>
<li>Eric Schlosser. from <span style="font-style: italic;">Fast Food Nation</span> (2001)</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://albany139326.blogspot.com/2013/10/lecture-workshop-9.html">Workshop</a></b>: Anatomy of an event<br />
<div align="center">
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: 130%;">•</span></b></div><br />
<br />
<b><a href="http://albany139326.blogspot.com/2013/10/lecture-workshop-10.html">Lecture 10</a>:<br />
</b><br />
<div align="center">
<b><span style="font-size: 130%;">Why?</span></b><br />
<b>The Marketplace</b></div>
<blockquote>
<br />
Anthology texts to read:<br />
<ul>
<li>Martin Edmond. from <span style="font-style: italic;">Luca Antara: Passages in Search of Australia</span> (2006)</li>
<li>from <span style="font-style: italic;">Lonely Planet New Zealand</span> (2006)</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://albany139326.blogspot.com/2013/10/lecture-workshop-10.html">Workshop</a></b>: Selling your wares<br />
<div align="center">
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: 130%;">•</span></b></div><br />
<br />
<b><a href="http://albany139326.blogspot.com/2013/10/lecture-workshop-11.html">Lecture 11</a>:<br />
</b><br />
<div align="center">
<b><span style="font-size: 130%;">Why?</span></b><br />
<b>Anti-Travel</b></div>
<blockquote>
<br />
Anthology texts to read:<br />
<ul>
<li>Scott Hamilton. 'From Kalmykia to Huntly' (2006)</li>
<li>Hunter S. Thompson. from <span style="font-style: italic;">Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas</span> (1971)</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://albany139326.blogspot.com/2013/10/lecture-workshop-11.html">Workshop</a></b>: Sharing plans for final projects<br />
<div align="center">
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: 130%;">•</span></b></div><br />
<br />
<b><a href="http://albany139326.blogspot.com/2013/10/lecture-workshop-12.html">Lecture 12</a>:<br />
</b><br />
<div align="center">
<b><span style="font-size: 130%;">When?</span></b></div>
<blockquote>
<br />
Anthology texts to read:<br />
<ul>
<li>Italo Calvino. from <span style="font-style: italic;">Invisible Cities</span> (1972)</li>
<li>Joseph Conrad. from <i>Heart of Darkness</i> (1899)</li>
<li>Joseph Conrad. 'Congo Diary' (1890)</li>
<li>Marco Polo. from <span style="font-style: italic;">The Travels</span> (c.1300)</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://albany139326.blogspot.com/2013/10/lecture-workshop-12.html">Workshop</a></b>: Sharing final projects<br />
<div align="center">
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: 130%;">•</span></b></div><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<br />
<b>Due in end of week 13:</b><br />
<a href="http://albany139326.blogspot.com/2013/10/final-project.html">Asst 3: Final project</a> (55%)</div>
<br />
<div align="center">
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: 130%;">•</span></b></div><br />
<br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga7mgDKFTP6Y3AkTZPWnFpbb-0f3PKkT5LpuIDBsiUQhyZtC9WgTgeUcG2ffyPZBRNxvA_Mokpho1WbkYYcvVKg2qalgx-jwiszHTjJhqNELSkmk378L3-OzWK1NW6R9ue3XBN1krsOcg/s1600-h/338_shoshannah_white_and_tonee_harbert_romance_of_travel.6.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341461049957977858" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga7mgDKFTP6Y3AkTZPWnFpbb-0f3PKkT5LpuIDBsiUQhyZtC9WgTgeUcG2ffyPZBRNxvA_Mokpho1WbkYYcvVKg2qalgx-jwiszHTjJhqNELSkmk378L3-OzWK1NW6R9ue3XBN1krsOcg/s400/338_shoshannah_white_and_tonee_harbert_romance_of_travel.6.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 255px;"></a><span style="font-size: 85%;">Shoshannah White & Tonee Harbert:<br /><a href="http://mainearts.maine.gov/PFA_images/338_shoshannah_white_and_tonee_harbert_romance_of_travel.6.jpg">The Romance of Travel</a></span></div><br />
<br />
Dr Jack Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01077200107415470747noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1376927654532430295.post-24224980479955701012013-10-03T11:03:00.001+13:002021-01-29T09:32:08.491+13:00Course Requirements<div align="center">
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4RmbD92rLpF4Qb2tKHFxn8z4IZ6-6Za5BCF5xKYhW3kxbl9NfO0wLAtOND2V3wd9rDKSJg1cgCTEnxpEn73f4TaB-wZKqDRo1cIa2PiiXOIsVyg4q0C2pryrIRJrSKEIsms3VroWwZbE/s1600-h/url.htm" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257942989516204706" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4RmbD92rLpF4Qb2tKHFxn8z4IZ6-6Za5BCF5xKYhW3kxbl9NfO0wLAtOND2V3wd9rDKSJg1cgCTEnxpEn73f4TaB-wZKqDRo1cIa2PiiXOIsVyg4q0C2pryrIRJrSKEIsms3VroWwZbE/s400/url.htm" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"></a><span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://www.le.ac.uk/engassoc/publications/issues.html">Atlas</a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Presentation</span><br />
<blockquote>
<br />
All the work you hand in should adhere to the following guidelines:<br />
<ul>
<li>1½ or double-spaced text.</li>
<li>12 or 14-point type: smaller or larger is unacceptable.</li>
<li>In a file format readable by <b>turnitin</b>, the online plagiarism detection software: this excludes the use of pdfs or word processing programmes other than MSWord or (at a pinch) rtf: Rich Text Format).</li>
</ul>
All assignments should also be submitted through Stream by the due dates listed on the <a href="http://albany139326.blogspot.co.nz/2013/10/course-timetable.html">Course Timetable</a> page on this website. You are allowed to submit more than one file for each of the three assignments, but not for the close reading exercise.<br />
<br />
Internal students should also submit hardcopies either in the Assignment slot on level 2 of the Atrium building, or directly to your lecturer during the workshop.</blockquote>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Marking</span><br />
<blockquote>
<br />
You will be graded <i>not</i> on the quality of the experience or feelings you describe in your writing (whether poetry or prose), but on:<br />
<ul>
<li>how well it meets the assignment requirements</li>
<li>how effective it is as a piece of writing.</li>
<li>the cogency with which you communicate the ideas that lie behind your work.</li>
</ul>
Presentation and grammar are also very important. Hastily thrown-together, sloppily formatted work is unlikely to achieve a good grade.<br />
<br />
Grading of creative work can be particularly sensitive. If you disagree with a mark, I suggest that you wait for a few days before talking to us about it. Give yourself that much time to reread and reflect on the grade and the comments. If you still have a query or complaint after that, you should certainly get in touch with your marker.</blockquote>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Late Assignments</span><br />
<blockquote>
<br />
All work is due in workshops on the dates given in the <a href="http://albany139326.blogspot.co.nz/2013/10/course-timetable.html">Course Timetable</a>.<br />
<br />
Late work, without an extension, will incur a penalty of two percentage marks per day.<br />
<br />
If it is more than one week late, your marker may refuse to accept or grade it. It will receive no comments if it is more than a week late without prior arrangement.</blockquote>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Extensions</span><br />
<blockquote>
<br />
If you want an extension, you must ask for one <i>before</i> the assignment is due. They will be given sparingly, in cases of bereavement, illness or family crisis. You will be asked to provide medical certificates for illness.</blockquote>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Word Limits</span><br />
<blockquote>
<br />
You are permitted a standard variation of 10% on either side of the assignment word limits (listed on the <a href="http://albany139326.blogspot.co.nz/2013/10/assignments.html">Assignments</a> page on this website). This means (for instance) that a 1000-word assignment can fall between 900 and 1100 words without penalty: anything either <i>below</i> or <i>above</i> those figures will, however, be penalised.</blockquote>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">E-mail Communication</span><br />
<blockquote>
<br />
Discussion of course-related topics should be confined to the online forums. You should use email only:<br />
<ul>
<li><i>to request an extension on an assignment</i>.<br /><b>NB:</b> This may or may not be granted. You are not guaranteed a favourable response.</li>
<br />
<li><i>to explain an absence from class, or any other adverse circumstances which are preventing you from concentrating on your studies</i>.<br /><b>NB:</b> You should be prepared to provide a medical certificate if it is health-related. If in doubt, however, it’s always best to let us know about any unforeseen difficulties you are experiencing.</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Plagiarism</span><br />
<blockquote>
<br />
We take plagiarism <b>extremely seriously</b>. If you take all or part of someone else’s work without acknowledgement and present it as your own, you can expect to receive – at the very least – a zero grade for that assignment.<br />
<br />
Depending on the seriousness of the offence, you may also face failure in the course as a whole.<br />
<br />
<i>If in doubt, check</i>. Not only your words, but also the plots and ideas you employ must be your own unaided work.</blockquote>
<br />
<div align="center">
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMpHQa42m8jnDSLfj5LnZ48h3X1QbkRa7VM-Kh6ZU8wSPx6YbXWo9JR2yBJiFmZe36cPQO8HVdUxOHaYGx4NRZWhEPSqZKGfklReTraQ5A6wP33O8lMFNFor-Vy4nlG13R1Q7z6VNZN6A/s1600-h/Malinowski.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341459741350733794" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMpHQa42m8jnDSLfj5LnZ48h3X1QbkRa7VM-Kh6ZU8wSPx6YbXWo9JR2yBJiFmZe36cPQO8HVdUxOHaYGx4NRZWhEPSqZKGfklReTraQ5A6wP33O8lMFNFor-Vy4nlG13R1Q7z6VNZN6A/s400/Malinowski.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 248px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;"></a><span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://classes.yale.edu/02-03/anth500a/projects/project_sites/99_Song/default.htm">Malinowski at Work</a></span></div><br />
<br />
Dr Jack Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01077200107415470747noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1376927654532430295.post-59911444624589608542013-10-02T11:00:00.000+13:002019-12-09T13:38:44.567+13:00Course Description<div align="center">
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB27QEPSqQIFjFmy5DK8fDQYalLgRPgfM0j1d2770Dy55DP1aCisi_Rs8gL4XML3ugL_nZreMbCQNv5ZizeXWLeh_GSs53hq6G6RDXd3IndOjys0t4_bKclwmwTPPlwb0KeUMdn5Z1MIw/s1600-h/STEENIESDREAM.gif" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257941480629943426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB27QEPSqQIFjFmy5DK8fDQYalLgRPgfM0j1d2770Dy55DP1aCisi_Rs8gL4XML3ugL_nZreMbCQNv5ZizeXWLeh_GSs53hq6G6RDXd3IndOjys0t4_bKclwmwTPPlwb0KeUMdn5Z1MIw/s400/STEENIESDREAM.gif" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"></a><span style="font-size: 85%;">Steenie Harvey: <a href="http://www.escapeartist.com/efam/78/Travel_Promo.html">The Travel Writer</a> (2006)</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />What is this course about?</span><br />
<blockquote>
<br />
In this paper you study texts by prominent contemporary travel writers, paying special attention to literary aspects of their work. You then apply your critical understanding of the genre to the production of your own travel stories, based on experiences that you have had overseas or within New Zealand.<br />
<br />
It is important to emphasise that this is a course in creative non-fiction, rather than in travel journalism <i>per se</i>. Nevertheless, while it covers both practical <i>and</i> theoretical aspects of Travel Writing, the emphasis throughout will be on pragmatic ways of improving your own work within this field.</blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">What are our learning objectives?</span><br />
<br />
Students who successfully complete this paper should be able to:<br />
<ol>
<li>Demonstrate an understanding of the variety of travel books published in recent years.</li>
<li>Employ a literary-critical vocabulary germane to the interpretation of these texts.</li>
<li>Reflect on the ideological and ethical issues involved in the representation of other cultures and peoples.</li>
<li>Incorporate their critical awareness of the genre of travel writing into their own creative practice.</li>
<li>Compose work in this genre which demonstrates enhanced creativity and skill as a writer.</li>
</ol>
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">What am I expected to do each week?</span><br />
<blockquote>
<br />
You will attend one hour-long lecture and one two-hour workshop every week.<br />
<br />
To prepare for the lecture, you must read the texts in the Course Anthology prescribed for that particular session (for further details, see the <a href="http://albany139326.blogspot.co.nz/2013/10/course-timetable.html">Course Timetable</a>).<br />
<br />
In the workshop there will be further discussion of these readings. You will also be expected to bring along any writing homework set for that week.<br />
<br />
<i>Attendance at both lectures and workshops is compulsory</i>. A roll will be taken at each workshop. More than four unexplained absences will be taken as grounds for failure in the course.</blockquote>
<br />
<b>What is good lecture etiquette?</b><br />
<ul><br />
<li>All lectures and workshops begin at on the hour and continue till ten to the hour.</li>
<li>Please be punctual. If you arrive late, try to take a seat as quietly and unobtrusively as possible.</li>
<li>If you know you will have to leave early (for whatever reason), try to inform your lecturer of this in advance. Avoid disruption to other students by sitting at the end of a row. Try to close the door quietly as you go out.</li>
<li>If you are expecting an urgent phonecall and need to keep your cellphone on, you must clear this with your lecturer in advance. Otherwise, all cellphones should be turned off at all times. If you forget, and it rings by mistake, don't answer it.</li>
<li>Don't talk unless there's a class discussion underway. Make sure your remarks are addressed to the group as a whole, not your immediate neighbour.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">What are the protocols of a writing workshop?</span><br />
<ol><br />
<li>Be courteous and supportive of each other – constructively critical, not negative.</li>
<li>Be honest. Don’t give out praise or blame if you don’t really mean it.</li>
<li>Make no introductions to or apologies for the piece of work you are reading out. Let it speak for itself.</li>
<li>Don’t refuse to read your work out too often, or it will become an increasingly frightening prospect.</li>
</ol>
<br />
<div align="center">
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWTQHaMzGMhmoZTZ6pymuSc-GWvHXJd_QdoJHF0WxQpJOmNV97JMKnsk_C-ZkPRr658MxijHkvhKDcsWmZ-RlLYawIOfqaoCL48yhIDcSQ2w4HKnjJfnjg9wNh3CwrDdjFtt6tbRbVoRc/s1600-h/ethnographer_typing_fieldnotes.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341457738360230018" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWTQHaMzGMhmoZTZ6pymuSc-GWvHXJd_QdoJHF0WxQpJOmNV97JMKnsk_C-ZkPRr658MxijHkvhKDcsWmZ-RlLYawIOfqaoCL48yhIDcSQ2w4HKnjJfnjg9wNh3CwrDdjFtt6tbRbVoRc/s400/ethnographer_typing_fieldnotes.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 267px;"></a><span style="font-size: 85%;">Charles D. Laughlin: <a href="http://www.biogeneticstructuralism.com/so/so_pictures_page.htm">The Ethnographer</a> (Uganda, 1969-70)</span></div><br />
<br />
Dr Jack Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01077200107415470747noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1376927654532430295.post-47037922292470425532013-10-01T10:57:00.000+13:002019-12-10T09:09:56.126+13:00Welcome<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFTqyIMk1ljzzgWkatVwipfmzRCiArAJkY8qRiT0iDUTKNTBkCdnr5Zsre-QIf2l_icgJJj7V5-2uwmKu9mi-_PFJc0Pe3YLOFcIwfa3PCzHLlGi5rewOe4aOISiZ1EgZGZqvv9J2x-Ig/s1600-h/Basho.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5188913889111658242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFTqyIMk1ljzzgWkatVwipfmzRCiArAJkY8qRiT0iDUTKNTBkCdnr5Zsre-QIf2l_icgJJj7V5-2uwmKu9mi-_PFJc0Pe3YLOFcIwfa3PCzHLlGi5rewOe4aOISiZ1EgZGZqvv9J2x-Ig/s400/Basho.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"></a><span style="font-size: 85%;">Basho: <a href="http://www.yamagata-art-museum.or.jp/jpeg/01_2.jpg"><i>Narrow Road to the Deep North</i></a> (1694)</span></div>
<br />
<br />
Welcome to <b>139.326: Travel Writing</b> at Massey University.<br />
<br />
This year, 2020, the course will be taught solely by <a href="http://www.massey.ac.nz/massey/expertise/profile.cfm?stref=345930">Dr Jack Ross</a> (course coordinator) in Albany and by distance.<br />
<br />
I would greatly welcome a volunteer to be the class advocate for this paper. This can be done easily at the <a href="https://www.asa.ac.nz/class-advocates">asa.ac.nz/class-advocates</a> website. <br />
<br />
So what exactly do we mean by the term "Travel Writing"? How liberal can our definition be? Here's what's up on the <a href="http://www.massey.ac.nz/massey/learning/programme-course/course.cfm?course_code=139326">Massey University website</a>:<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Paper Number:</span><br />
<blockquote>
139.326</blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Paper Title:</span><br />
<blockquote>
Travel Writing</blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Credit Value:</span><br />
<blockquote>
15 credits</blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Calendar Prescription:</span><br />
<blockquote>
A study of travel writing, including both critical and ideological analysis and creative writing developed from the students’ own fieldwork.</blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Pre and co requisites:</span><br />
<blockquote>
Prerequisites: Any 200 level paper.<br />
Corequisites: None</blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Semester:</span><br />
<blockquote>
Semester 1</blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Campus:</span><br />
<blockquote>
Auckland (Albany)</blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Mode:</span><br />
<blockquote>
Internal / Extramural</blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">E-Learning Category:</span><br />
<blockquote>
Partially Taught Online</blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Paper coordinator:</span><br />
<blockquote>
Dr. Jack Ross<br />
School of English and Media Studies<br />
College of Humanities and Social Sciences<br />
Atrium Building Level L2.32<br />
Albany Campus<br />
Phone: 414 0800 x 43338<br />
Email: <a href="mailto:j.r.ross@massey.ac.nz">j.r.ross@massey.ac.nz</a></blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Teaching Timetable (internal only):</span><br />
<blockquote>
Your timetable for lectures, laboratories, and tutorials can be found via the portal <a href="https://smsportal.massey.ac.nz/sitsvision/wrd/siw_lgn">here</a></blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Learning Outcomes [LO]:</span><br />
<blockquote>
Students who successfully complete this paper should be able to:<br />
<ol>
<li>Demonstrate an understanding of the variety of travel books published in recent years.</li>
<li>Employ a literary-critical vocabulary germane to the interpretation of these texts.</li>
<li>Reflect on the ideological and ethical issues involved in the representation of other cultures and peoples.</li>
<li>Incorporate their critical awareness of the genre of travel writing into their own creative practice.</li>
<li>Compose work in this genre which demonstrates enhanced creativity and skill as a writer.</li>
</ol>
<b>Please note:</b> Learning Outcomes are subject to change until the beginning of the semester in which the paper is delivered.</blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Major Topics:</span><br />
<blockquote>
In this paper you study texts by prominent contemporary travel writers, paying special attention to literary aspects of their work. You then apply your critical understanding of the genre to the production of your own travel stories, based on experiences that you have had overseas or within New Zealand.</blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Assessment Proportions:</span><br />
<blockquote>
Internal Assessment: 100%.</blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Description of Assessment Activities:</span><br />
<blockquote>
<ol><li><b>Title:</b> Close reading of One Set Text (LO 1, 2)<br />
<b>Worth:</b> 15%</li>
<br />
<li><b>Title:</b> Creative Writing Exercise: Local travel project (LO 4, 5)<br />
<b>Worth:</b> 30%</li>
<br />
<li><b>Title:</b> Final Project (LO 3, 4, 5)<br />
<b>Worth:</b> 55%</li>
</ol>
<b>Please note:</b> Assessment weightings are subject to change until the beginning of the semester in which the paper is delivered.</blockquote>
<br />
<b>Due Dates / Deadlines:</b><br />
<blockquote>
Specific dates for assessments will be finalised in information provided on Stream at the start of the Paper.</blockquote>
<br />
<b>Penalties for late assignment submission:</b><br />
<blockquote>
Two percentage marks deducted per day. After one week your marker may refuse to receive it. It will receive no comments if it is more than a week late without prior arrangement.</blockquote>
<br />
<b>Assignment turnaround:</b><br />
<blockquote>
Three weeks.</blockquote>
<br />
<b>Any specific requirements for passing the paper:</b><br />
<blockquote>
None.</blockquote>
<br />
<b>Principal Textbook:</b><br />
<blockquote>
Departmental Book of Readings, available for order online, from the course Stream site.</blockquote>
<br />
<div align="center">
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgwzUrfg2jZGXhK3Qi47uCqAvKjNgwdvwhVtr40tNd0LopZWvWnCtqEeqhcNppck47-69vAXqL9wLTaUjTBILJPHN2dffzlR07aqjZ002UNTeFgkgaCTUFU0AH3Jw77S2OGkjXpgY3Zm8/s1600-h/basho_portrait_kyoriku.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341376313848575202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgwzUrfg2jZGXhK3Qi47uCqAvKjNgwdvwhVtr40tNd0LopZWvWnCtqEeqhcNppck47-69vAXqL9wLTaUjTBILJPHN2dffzlR07aqjZ002UNTeFgkgaCTUFU0AH3Jw77S2OGkjXpgY3Zm8/s400/basho_portrait_kyoriku.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 209px;"></a><span style="font-size: 85%;">Morikawa Kyoriku: <a href="http://www.sonic.net/%7Etabine/SAABasho_etc_Spring_2005/basho_folder/SAASpring2005_Basho_01.html">Portrait of Bashō</a> (1693)</span></div><br />
<br />
Dr Jack Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01077200107415470747noreply@blogger.com0