TRAVEL WRITING PORTFOLIO

Travel Writing Portfolio

Travel Writing Portfolio

Introduction

Travel has also been a major part of human lives due to the fact that travelling and tourism has grown in today's era. The interest of people to discover new places has increased as 21st century is considered as an adventurous era. Tourism in UK comprises a wide range of experiences which are built around tourist visits under categories of sport tourism, business tourism, event tourism, study tourism, health and wellness tourism, culture tourism, and adventure tourism.

According to Alain Borer,

“Of all the books, the one I prefer is my passport, only in octavo, which opens the borders."

This paper is an account of the literary review of the travel writings and their critical analysis.

Literary Review

The Travels of Dean Mahomet

This literary review looks at Dean Mahomet through his autobiographical text, The Travels of Dean Mahomet: An Eighteenth-Century Journey through India, a portrait of an elite Indian male at the beginning of the British conquest of India from within the British Military. He paints a portrait of a cosmopolitan figure, knowledgeable with a refined aesthetic sense, imbued with morality, educated in a classical manner and above all disciplined. What we also see is a portrait of a young man with a mythologized paternal lineage who traced his roots along the centuries with the great Mughal Empire, star-struck by authoritarianism, military men in uniform, and a life of ritual and spectacle(Mahomet,1997,16-56). He also dissolves the boundaries between cultures by focusing on commonalities between culture and history. Travels offer a view of an elite Indian male at the beginning of British conquest of India from within the British military. His autobiographical travelogue is critical yet understanding of the English and Muslim Indian cultures in power. As a travel novel, his writing is intended to contribute to the information about India. He provides descriptions of the land, noting strategic points such as wells, forts and the layout of urban centres (Mahomet,1997,16-56). He provides information on economic practices and details of markets. He comments on the goods available in various regions. He catalogs flora and fauna. He provides information on the people, discussing cultural practices of the Hindu and Muslim elite societies he has had contact with and exposure to portraying them as moral (Mahomet, 49) and virtuous (Mahomet, 1997, 52), as well as treacherous (Mahomet, 1997 86-7) and decadent (Mahomet, 1997, 88-90). His descriptions of the non-elite society, however, merely classifies them into “merciless savages,” (Mahomet 47) “licentious barbarians” (Mahomet 48) or “humane people” (Mahomet, 114-5) directed by an “all ruling Providence” (Mahomet 114-5).

Mahomet also provides opinion on the interrelationship of governance and commerce, and the effects on the land and people. He highlights areas of overlap between the Anglo and Islamic-Indic cultures and similarities in form of state and religion such as the absolute sovereign and monotheism (Mahomet,1997,16-56). The text develops a public position strongly supporting absolute sovereign rule as the only form of government that can ensure security and prosperity to a land and ...