Travel Writing and Satire James D. Sumner Royal Holloway College
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
1 Travel Writing and Satire James D. Sumner Royal Holloway College PhD in English University of London 2013 2 Declaration of Authorship I, James D. Sumner, hereby declare that this thesis and the work presented in it is entirely my own. Where I have consulted the work of others, this is always clearly stated. Signed: ______________________ Date: ________________________ 3 Abstract: 1) Critical Component: The purpose of my thesis is to explore the history of British travel writing and to consider how the literature of exploration, which initially presented itself as factual, evolved into the fictional use of travel writing. In order to provide a context for travel writing, I will be looking at the work of Porter, Mills, Pratt, Chard, Hulme and Youngs before discussing the Grand Tourist (1660-1837) and the growth of mass tourism under Thomas Cook. In order to consider early-twentieth-century travel writing in this context of mass tourism, I propose to engage specifically with Peter Fleming’s Brazilian Adventure (1933) and Robert Byron’s The Road to Oxiana (1937). Evelyn Waugh, at various times, acted both as a friend and a reviewer to both Byron and Fleming. The thesis will then focus upon Evelyn Waugh’s work and look at the differences between his travel writing and the fictional use of travel in his fiction. Waugh’s writing style has been important to me in the development of my own. As Waugh wrote in his review of Peter Fleming’s Brazilian Adventure (1933), ‘the trouble about all forms of writing is that one is working against a background of predecessors and contemporaries.’ 1 Thus in my last chapter, I will discuss someone whom Waugh influenced, namely Malcolm Bradbury. This chapter will involve an exploration of Bradbury’s views on Waugh, and a discussion of Bradbury’s heterotopic 1 Gallagher, Donat, ed., The Essays, Articles and Reviews of Evelyn Waugh , London, Penguin, 1986, p. 137. 4 fiction in his Iron Curtain satire, Rates of Exchange (1983), and finally, Why Come to Slaka? (1986) – Bradbury’s parody both of guidebooks and travel books alike. I will show how heterotopic fiction has its roots in travel writing, as seen in Swift’s work, and how it has influenced my own creative writing. Heterotopic fiction, or the use of composite locations, whether by Swift or by Bradbury, has been integral to the conception of The Excursionist . Satire has also been integral to my project, and I will also consider in this chapter Northrop Frye’s work on satire as a way to understand both Bradbury’s work and my own. My thesis will finish with a review of how my novel, The Excursionist , owes its structure, satirical bent and narrative drive to the works of Swift, Waugh and Bradbury. 2) Creative Component: The Excursionist, Being an Account of the Attempt of Jack Kaganagh to Visit his 98th, 99th and 100th Countries and Thereby Ensure Membership of the Travelers’ Century Club is a self-explanatory title. Kaganagh wants to visit one hundred countries before a landmark birthday and travels to Placentia, Kilrush and Fulgary in the fictional locale of the Coronation Islands, somewhere in the Indian Ocean. Placentia is an eco-resort, Kilrush is the world’s only Irish Protectorate and The Omanalak on Meelick Bay in Fulgary is a seven-star barefoot luxury resort. The novel takes a satirical look at the idea of luxury travel, the commodification of the travel industry and travellers themselves, while exploring the themes of inequality, loneliness and materialism. 5 Contents Acknowledgements .................................................................................................. 8 Critical Component: Travel Writing and Satire Chapter 1: The Grand Tour and Thomas Cook ..................................................... 10 Chapter 2: Byron and Fleming as Travellers and Travel Writers .......................... 55 Chapter 3: Evelyn Waugh ...................................................................................... 93 Chapter 4: Bradbury, Heterotopic Fiction, and The Excursionist ....................... 127 Bibliography Works cited ............................................................................................ 174 Works consulted ..................................................................................... 181 Creative Component: The Excursionist Chapter 1: Silver Machine ................................................................................... 189 Chapter 2: Whole Wide World ............................................................................ 190 Chapter 3: Money In My Pocket .......................................................................... 197 Chapter 4: I Travel Alone .................................................................................... 201 Chapter 5: Us and Them ...................................................................................... 203 Chapter 6: Bring Me Sunshine ............................................................................. 206 Chapter 7: Big Seven ........................................................................................... 209 Chapter 8: Monkey Man ...................................................................................... 219 Chapter 9: Too Hot .............................................................................................. 227 Chapter 10: Contact ............................................................................................. 234 6 Chapter 11: Oops Upside Your Head .................................................................. 237 Chapter 12: Don’t Fence Me In ........................................................................... 241 Chapter 13: Space Cowboy .................................................................................. 257 Chapter 14: Accidents Will Happen .................................................................... 262 Chapter 15: Ask ................................................................................................... 267 Chapter 16: Down At The Doctor’s ..................................................................... 283 Chapter 17: Spoonful ........................................................................................... 289 Chapter 18: Paradise City .................................................................................... 295 Chapter 19: Sunny Afternoon .............................................................................. 308 Chapter 20: Out On The Floor ............................................................................. 311 Chapter 21: I Don’t Want To Be Nice ................................................................. 316 Chapter 22: Happy Jack ....................................................................................... 324 Chapter 23: So What ............................................................................................ 328 Chapter 24: Just Like Heaven .............................................................................. 343 Chapter 25: Kung Fu Fighting ............................................................................. 347 Chapter 26: I Travel Alone .................................................................................. 352 Chapter 27: She’s Not There................................................................................ 356 Chapter 28: Superfly ............................................................................................ 365 Chapter 29: Sweet Leaf ........................................................................................ 382 Chapter 30: Excitable Boy ................................................................................... 390 Chapter 31: Wunderbar ........................................................................................ 394 7 Chapter 32: Rise ................................................................................................... 403 Chapter 33: Cinnamon Girl .................................................................................. 415 Chapter 34: The Fever ......................................................................................... 427 Chapter 35: Don’t Explain ................................................................................... 433 Chapter 36: After The Love Has Gone ................................................................ 437 Chapter 37: The Power ........................................................................................ 443 Chapter 38: Teardrops.......................................................................................... 449 8 Acknowledgements I would like to thank Dr. Douglas Cowie and Prof. Robert Hampson for their support, encouragement, patience and insight. This work is dedicated to Harry Thomas Bertram, Peter Oscar Finn, my mother, Barbara, my late father, Thomas and of course, my wife, Victoria. 9 Critical Component: Travel Writing and Satire Travel Writing and Satire 10 Chapter 1: The Grand Tour and Thomas Cook This project began with two questions: why do travellers travel and how do travellers write. As it has developed, the creative part of the project has not found a fully satisfactory answer to the first question, but it has developed an answer to the second that has involved an exploration of travel and travel writing – in particular, work from the ‘golden age of travel writing’ between the wars – but also of humour and satire, and the use of imaginary or composite locations, in travel-based fictions. In developing this project, two modern