Travel Narratives as Counter-Discourse: An Analysis

Abstract

: The history of travel and travel writing dates back to antiquity. But the genre is however regarded as a prerogative of the Europeans and the travel narratives of non-European travellers that predates European ones are often overlooked and ignored. European travel writing has been instrumental in upholding European supremacy and legitimising the continual subjugation of the East as well. However, recently, there haveemergedtravel narratives by some writers which subvert the long-held notions of European cultural high- handedness in Western travel writing. Such narratives employ techniques and methods that render them antithetical to the generic tradition of Western travel writing and function as counter-discourse that subvert dominant discourses. Caryl Phillips’ The European Tribe (1987) and Amitav Ghosh’s In an Antique Land (1992) are two travel narratives written in this vein challenging many of the established norms and dominant discursive patterns of European travel writing.