17th Annual Student Research Conference
Language & Literature
Travel Writing and Memoir: Experiential Research
Jonathon C. Burns
Dr. Adam Davis, Faculty Mentor
What is travel writing? Its not a diary or journal, or random musings on ones vacation. A person enters a foreign space, lives in that space amongst the natives for a given period, interacts with, records, reflects and analyses the entire experience: the space and its components, as well as the observer/participant. The result is a reflection that is neither merely personal or purely impersonal, but inquires into the relations of self, other, and observation itself. The researcher hopes to show the merits of travel writing as a research discipline, and to illustrate the finer points of form and method using data collected during a two month, twelve-thousand mile journey across the Western United States, Canada and Alaska, and set against the background of the existing genre of travel writing.
Keywords: Travel Writing, Memoir, Participant Observer, Self, Other, Experiential , Research, Reflection
Topic(s):Interdisciplinary
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 19-5
Location: VH 1320
Time: 11:00