Travel Writing Workshop

7/28/2019 Travel Writing Workshop

1/20

VicenteG.

GroyonIII

W O R K S H O P

TTrraavveellWWrriittiinnggPractice, Pedagogy and Theory

24-25 February 2011


2/20

WorkshoponTravelWriting:Practice,PedagogyandTheory(2425February2011)

organisedbyAsiaResearchInstitute,NationalUniversityofSingaporeattheARISeminarRoom,TowerBlock,Level10,BukitTimahRoad

2

Criticalattentiontotravelwritinghasgrownsignificantlyoverthelastthreedecades.Describedasagenre

thatdefies categorization, travel textshave longunsettled the conventionsof literature, anthropology,

history, and geography. Yetdespite the variedwaysof investigating travel narratives, studies agreeon

essential elementsthe motif of departures and arrivals, the traversal of space, the contact/clash of

cultures,theinner/outerjourney,theforegroundingofthestrangevisvisthefamiliar.Thesehavebeen

mined,largely

through

the

lens

of

literary

and

cultural

studies,

for

insights

they

can

provide

into

structures

ofpower,mobility,representation,knowledgeproduction,culturaldialogueand,morerecently,thetheme

ofreconciliation.

Astherecentyearswitnessedtheformalestablishmentoftravelwritingstudies intotheacademe,there

hasemergedagreaterneedtoexplorethevariedfacetsunderlyingthegenresproduction,andhowthey

bearoneachother.Thishasbecomemoreurgentasthe interest inthephenomenonoftravel itselfhas

necessarily been imbricated inmore current inquiries such as globalization,migration, tourism, gender

studies,digitalization,andinternationalstudies.Alongsidethisdevelopmentisakeenerawarenessofhow

thepractice,pedagogyand theorizingof travelnarrativesareno longerperceivedasdistinct fromeach

otherifmoresocioculturallyresponsive,rewardingandinnovativewaysofarticulatingtravelexperiences

areto

be

encouraged.

Thisworkshopaddresses theneedtocreatemoreproductiveoccasions intothecritical inquiryoftravel

texts through a dialogue amongwriters, teachers and theorists. It is hoped that by articulating issues

thoughttobe looselyrelatedfromeachother,newsitesof interaction,evencollision,canbeteasedout

through theexchange. Italsoaims toexplorehowdebatesassumed tobe integral inearlier studiesof

traveltextsmayunravel intonewstrandsof investigationastheglobalpoliticalandeconomicshiftsthat

highlightAsiasriseareconsidered.

Participatingintheworkshopareawardwinningwriters,leadingfiguresinthestudyoftravelwriting,and

academicsworkingonrelatedfields.

CONTACTDETAILS

Organisers:

ProfChuaBengHuat

AsiaResearchInstitute&DepartmentofSociology,NationalUniversityofSingapore

AssocProfDinahRomaSianturi

AsiaResearchInstitute,NationalUniversityofSingapore

Secretariat:

MsValerieYeo


469ATowerBlock,Level10,BukitTimahRoad,Singapore259770

Email:[email protected]

Tel:(65)65165279

Fax:(65)67791428


3/20



3

THURSDAY,24FEBRUARY201109:0009:15 REGISTRATION&REFRESHMENT

09:1509:30 INTRODUCTORYREMARKS

CHUABengHuat

Leaderof

the

Cultural

Studies

in

Asia

Cluster,

Asia

Research

Institute,

DepartmentofSociology,NationalUniversityofSingapore

DinahRomaSIANTURI


09:3011:00 SESSION1WRITINGSELFANDTRAVEL

Chairperson:CHUABengHuat

09:30 RobinHEMLEY

TheUniversityofIowa,USA

TheTravelWriterasInfiltrator

10:00 PhilipHOLDEN

NationalUniversityofSingapore

DeathinaTimeofWar:Maugham,Travel,Writing

10:30 DISCUSSION

11:00

11:30

TEA

BREAK

11:3013:00 SESSION2PERMEABLEBOUNDARIES

Chairperson:NaokoSHIMAZU

11:30 VicenteGarciaGROYONDeLaSalleUniversityManila,Philippines

TraversingFictionandNonfictioninTravelWriting

12:00 KyokoNAKAJIMANovelist,Japan

TravelJournalsandFiction

12:30 DISCUSSION

13:0014:00 LUNCH

14:0015:30 SESSION3THEEVEOFDEPARTURE:WOMENSTRAVELWRITINGS

Chairperson:TinekeHELLWIG

14:00

BettyHAGGLUND

NottinghamTrentUniversity,UK&

UniversityofBirmingham,UK

The'Bricolage'

of

Travel

Writing:

ABakhtinianReadingofNineteenthCentury

Women'sWritingsaboutItaly

14:30 StephanieElizondoGRIEST

UniversityofIowa,USA

WaywardWomen,OntheRoadandOnthePage

15:00 DISCUSSION

15:3016:00 TEABREAK

16:0018:00 SESSION4ASIANJOURNEYS

Chairperson:LeoCHING

16:00 LilawatiKURNIA

UniversitasIndonesia

TravelWritingonIndonesiaandbyIndonesians

16:30

Naoko

SHIMAZU

NationalUniversityofSingaporeWar

Diaries

as

Travel

Writing:

Japanese

Conscripts

and

theirDiscoveryofJapanintheRussoJapaneseWar

17:00 ZHENGYi


XuXiakeandXiakeYouji

17:30 DISCUSSION

18:00 ENDOFDAYONE

18:10 BUSTRANSFER

Pleasegatheratthelobbyforthebustransfertodinnervenue

18:30 WORKSHOPDINNER

(ForSpeakers,Chairpersons&InvitedGuests)

20:00 BUSTRANSFERBACKTOHOTEL


4/20



4

FRIDAY,25FEBRUARY2011

09:1509:30 REGISTRATION&REFRESHMENTS

09:3011:00 SESSION5MOVINGDISPUTEDBORDERS

Chairperson:ThongchaiWINICHAKUL

09:309 TimYOUNGSNottinghamTrentUniversity,UK

EthicalCommitment:TravelWritingandCritics

10:00 CarolE.LEON

UniversityofMalaya,Malaysia

TravelLinesandPlacesofBelonging

10:30 DISCUSSION

11:0011:30 TEABREAK

11:3013:00 SESSION6TOWARDSAGLOBALITINERARY

Chairperson:PeterMAROLT

11:30 EddieTAYTheChineseUniversityofHongKong

Encounters,StereotypesandtheCosmopolitan

Imagination:TravelWritingfromSingapore

12:00 DinahRomaSIANTURINational

University

of

Singapore

FromColonialtoCosmopolitanVisions:

Detoursin

Travel

Theory

12:30 DISCUSSION

13:0014:00 LUNCH

14:0015:30 SESSION7OFTHESACREDANDPROFANE

Chairperson:MaureenHelenHICKEY

14:00 AnaMariaTheresaP.LABRADOR

NationalMuseumofthePhilippines

PilgrimageorTourism:WhatsTheDifference?

21stCenturyMassVisitstoSacredSpacesandtheir

ImplicationsonHeritagePreservation

14:30 JoannaClaireCOOK


Shopping,MeritmakingandMeditating:

SpiritualTourisminContemporaryThailand

15:00 DISCUSSION

15:30

16:00

CLOSING

REMARKS

DinahRomaSIANTURI


16:00 ENDOFDAYTWO

16:0016:30 TEABREAK

16:30 BUSTRANSFERBACKTOHOTEL


5/20



5

TheTravelWriterasInfiltrator

RobinHEMLEY

Director,NonfictionWritingProgram,TheUniversityofIowa

NonfictionEditor,TheIowaReview

Editor,

Defunct

(Defunctmag.com)

[email protected]

Thispaperwillexaminethefraughtspacebetweenoutsiderstoaculture,andhowwritersthroughoutthecenturies

havegainedaccessandinsightintoculturesnottheirown.ThepaperwillalsoexploretherelationshipoftheSelfto

thecountryofexplorationwhileinthepast,thenotionoftheSelfwasconsideredastableidentity,thatscertainly

notthecaseinthe21stcentury,andinmanyregards,theCountryoftheSelfiswhatthetruetravelerexplores.Inmy

discussionwellexamineculturaloutsiderswhobecomeobsessedwithaculturenottheirown(myselfinrelationto

thePhilippines),culturalspiessuchasVictorianwriterSirRichardBurtonsinfiltrationofMeccainthe19th

century,

andformerinsiders(expatsandmigrs)lookingbackatthelandoftheirbirth,asinLuisFranciasbookaboutthe

Philippines,Eye

of

the

Fish.

Other

authors

discussed

will

be

Jan

Morris,

James

Hamilton

Paterson,

Joan

Didion

and

JhumpaLahiri.Inanevermoregloballyaccessibleworld,theaudienceforthetravelwriterhasjumpedthetracks

instead of an assumed audience back home, the contemporary travelwriters audience and popularitymight

includeandevenbemadeupmostlyof thepeople towhomhesa foreigner,aswas thecasewhen Iwrotemy

Dispatches FromManila column forMcSweeneys, and I soon found anaudience in thePhilippinesand in the

FilipinoDiaspora.ThevaluefortheFilipinoaudiencewastheopportunitytohaveaspectsoftheirculturereflected

backhonestlyandrespectfullybyaninformedoutsider.ThevaluetomyselfwasimmeasurableinthewayIwasable

to interrogatemyownnotionsofculture,politics,andwhereandwhen Iasanoutsidercould takeaseatat the

table.

RobinHemley istheauthorofsevenawardwinningbooksofnonfictionandfiction, including InventedEden:The

Elusive,Disputed

History

of

the

Tasaday;

Turning

Life

into

Fiction,

Do

Over:

In

Which

aForty

Eight

Year

Old

Father

of

ThreeReturnstoKindergarten,SummerCamp,theProm,andOtherEmbarrassments,Nola:AMemoirofFaith,Art,

andMadness,TheLastStudebaker:ANovel,andtwoshortstorycollections.HisbookonImmersionWriting,Outin

TheWorldwillbepublishedbyTheUniversityofGeorgiaPressnextyear,aswillanewvolumeofshortstories.Heis

theDirectorofTheNonfictionWritingProgramatTheUniversityof Iowa,and teaches in the lowresidencyMFA

ProgramsatCityUniversity inHongKongandVermontCollegeofFineArts.Hehaswonmanyawards includinga

GuggenheimFellowship,andhisworkhasbeenwidelyanthologized.


6/20



6

DeathinaTimeofWar:Maugham,Travel,Writing

PhilipHOLDEN

EnglishLanguage&LiteratureandUniversityScholarsProgramme


[email protected]

OverthelasttwoyearsIvebeenworkingonaprojectthatwilleventuallyresultinabiographicalaccountofthelife

oftheBritishwriterW.SomersetMaugham.Maughamwasanaccomplishedtravelerandtravelwriter,andindeed

probablyneverspentacalendaryearinasinglelocationfromtheageofsixteentohisdeathatninetyonein1965.

Biographies of Maugham have often focused on his sexuality, attempting to discover the truth of self hidden

beneaththeelaborate fabricationsandthin fictionalizationsofhispublishedwriting. In rereadingMaugham, Ive

becomemoreinterestedinthewayheconsciously,throughthecultivationofcelebrity,madehislifeintoaworkof

art:howhetransformedepisodesoftravelintojourneys.Indoingso,Ivealsomovedfromapostcolonialcritiqueof

MaughamwhichIthink is important,butperhaps increasingly less intellectuallyrelevanttoconsideringhowhis

workscirculated

among

aglobal

reading

public.

In

my

paper,

after

abrief

framing

discussion,

Ill

read

asection

of

the

biographyIamwriting,whichcentersonthedeathofMaughamssecretaryandpartner,GeraldHaxton,andwhich

istoldusingamotifof intersectingjourneys. InexploringthepossibilitiesofnarrativizationofferedbyMaughams

life, Im curious about the manner in which approaching biography as an exercise in travel writing helps us

reconceptualizebiographyitselfasagenre.

PhilipHoldenresearcheslifewritingandSoutheastAsianwritinginEnglish,oftenwithafocusonissuesrelatingto

genderandmulticulturalism.HeistheauthorofAutobiographyandDecolonization:Modernity,Masculinity,andthe

NationState(2008)andcoauthorofTheRoutledgeConciseHistoryofSoutheastAsianWritinginEnglish(2009),as

well as articles in Postcolonial Studies, Interventions, The Journal of Postcolonial Writing, The Journal of

Commonwealth Literature, Biography, LifeWriting, Philippine Studies and Textual Practice. His present research

examines

the

place

of

the

short

story

as

a

global

form

under

decolonization,

and

he

is

also

doing

preliminary

work

on

aliterarybiographyofW.SomersetMaugham.


7/20



7

TraversingFictionandNonfictioninTravelWriting

VicenteGarciaGroyon

DepartmentofLiterature,DeLaSalleUniversityManila,Philippines

[email protected]

Contemporarynonfictionroutinelyadoptstechniquestraditionallyusedinthewritingoffictionasawayofmaking

realitycomealiveonthepage.Thiscrossoverreinforcespoststructuralistandpostmodernnotionsofthefictiveness

of anymediated renditions of reality, and in the travel essay results in a depiction of an existing geographical

locationandanactualexperienceofthat locationthatareasfictionalassettingsandevents inanovel.Evenasa

writerabsorbsthedetailsofaplaceandattendstothesensationsofbeinginthatplace,heisalreadyshapingthem

intotheessayhe isgoingtowrite inthesamewaythatheworkswithelementsfromhisimagination.Snatchesof

conversation areworked into potential scenes as dialogue, turns of phrase are coined for vivid descriptions of

sensation,anditinerariesarereducedtosummaries,inaprocessthattraversesthepermeableboundariesbetween

fictionandnonfiction.Inthispaper,thisprocessisexploredthroughanexaminationofhowthiswriterapproacheda

recenttravel

essay

assignment

on

the

Spain

of

poet

Miguel

Hernndez.

VicenteGarciaGroyonhaswrittenanovel,TheSkyoverDimas(DeLaSalleUniversityPress,2003),andashortstory

collection,OnCursedGroundandOtherStories (UniversityofthePhilippinesPress,2004),bothofwhichreceived

theManilaCriticsCircleNationalBookAward for Fiction.He recently edited aPhilippinePEN anthologyof new

fiction inEnglishentitledADifferentVoice: FictionbyYoung FilipinoWriters and twoanthologiesof flash fiction

entitledVery Short StoriesforHarriedReadersandMgaKuwentongPaspasan. In2009he received anHonorary

FellowshipfromtheUniversityofIowaInternationalWritingProgram.HeteacheswiththeDepartmentofLiterature

atDeLaSalleUniversityManila.


8/20



8

TravelJournalsandFiction

KyokoNAKAJIMA

Novelist,Japan

[email protected]

net.ne.jp

Thispaperwillfocusontheinteractionbetweentraveljournalsandfictionfromapracticalaspect.

Travelnonfictionismostlywrittenfromthetravelerspointofview.Whenpeopletravelandseemanythings,they

arealsobeingseen.Foralongperiod,travelersfromWesterncountrieswereobserversfornonWesterncountries.

Then theywrotewhat they sawonesidedly.But this situation isnowconsideredhistorybecausepresentlynon

Westernwriterscanwritefromtheirperspective.

MysecondnovelItosRomanceisbasedonatravelaccountcalledUnbeatenTracksinJapanwrittenbyIsabellaBird,

aVictorian travelerwhocame to Japan in the late19th

century.Theprotagonistofmynovel isher interpreter,a

youngJapanese

man.

To

reverse

the

point

of

view

gives

amore

diversified

ideafor

example,

we

can

realize

the

prejudicewehave,andalsowebecomeawareofourdifferencesandsimilarities.Whenyouseesomeone,someone

mayalsobewatchingyou.Simplyitisfuntothinkthatanobserverisalsoobserved.

Thus travel writing itself can inspire another form of travel writing. I think it is an interesting way to have

intertextualitybetweentraveljournalsandtravelfictionbecausethenovelisaformwhichcontainspolyphony.

KyokoNakajimaisanauthorofsixcollectionsofshortstoriesandfournovels.Shestartedhercareerasanovelist

withFUTONin2003.ThebookwasnominatedfortheNomaLiteraturePrizefornewwriters.HersecondnovelItono

koi (Itos Romance) and 2 other books were also nominated for domestic literary prizes. She was one of the

participantsfortheInternationalWritingPrograminUniversityofIowa,2009.In2010,shepublishedanovelChiisai

O

uchi

(The

Little

House).

It

won

the

143

rd

Naoki

Prize,

the

time

honored

literary

prize

for

seasoned

writers

of

popular fiction in Japan.Thenovelwashighly regardedthat thewritingvividlydepicted the lifeofamiddleclass

familyinprewarJapanandtheauthortookinhugevolumesofreferencematerialsverytactfully.ChiisaiOuchiwill

betranslatedintoChineseandKorean,publishedfrompublishingcompaniesinBeijingandSeoulrespectively.


9/20



9

The'Bricolage'ofTravelWriting:

ABakhtinianReadingofNineteenthCenturyWomen'sWritingsaboutItaly

BettyHAGGLUND

DepartmentofEnglish,NottinghamTrentUniversity,UK

Centrefor

Postgraduate

Quaker

Studies,

University

of

Birmingham,

UK

[email protected]

Accounts of travel in Italy written by women during the period 18101830 are strikingly intertextual. Harriet

Morton'sProtestantVigils;or,EveningRecordsofAJourneyinItaly,intheYears1826and1827(1829),forexample,

directly draws on and/or quotes from at least sixtytwo other texts, including classical sources in translation,

contemporarybookson Italy,poetry,othertravelaccounts, theBible,encyclopaediasandother referencebooks,

scientificpapers,etc.Similarly,MariaGraham'sThreeMonthsPassed in theMountainsEastofRome,during the

Year1819(1820)makesuseofatleastsixtysixtexts,onlyafewofwhichoverlapwiththeonesusedbyMortonand

whichincludeLatin,FrenchandItaliantexts,Grahambeingfluentinallthreelanguages.

Thispaperwillexplorethewaysinwhichtheseandotherwomentravelwritersoftheearlynineteenthcenturywrite

atypeof'bricolage',drawingonandtransformingawiderangeofmaterialinwaysthattakeitfarbeyondtwenty

first century conceptsof 'copying'or 'quotation'. Itwill look at how this layering of textuality is situatedwithin

contemporary approaches to female authorship and text, reflected in, inter alia, the growth in anthologies and

periodical reviewingpractices,andwill contextualise itwithinadiscussionof theways inwhich textswereboth

producedandconsumedwhiletravellingabroad.

Itwillgoontoexaminethewaysinwhichthesewomentravelwritersstrovetocreateanauthoritativevoicewithin

their textsandwill lookat theways inwhich themultiplevoiceswithin the textsboth 'disrupt'and support the

authorityofthefemaleauthorialvoice.

BettyHagglundisanHonoraryResearchFellowinEnglishatNottinghamTrentUniversity,UKandhasrecentlytaken

upapostasProjectDevelopmentOfficerattheCentreforPostgraduateQuakerStudies,UniversityofBirmingham,

UK,wheresheisbeginningtodevelopwaysinwhichtoanalyseandwriteaboutreligiouslymotivatedtravelwriting.

She is the author of Tourists and Travellers:Women'sNonFictionalWriting about Scotland, 17701830 (Bristol:

ChannelViewPublications,2010),andhaseditedthreevolumesofwomen'sItaliantravelwriting(London:Pickering

andChatto,2010), the seventeenthcenturymanuscript traveldiaryofCassandraWilloughby (forthcoming2012)

and Catherine Hutton's The Tour of Africa (forthcoming 2013). She is coeditor of Snapshot Traveller, an

international online newsletter for the academic study of travel writing and served as VicePresident of the

International Society for TravelWriting from 20012005. She has publishedwidely on travelwriting, and has a

particularinterestinwomen'swriting.


10/20



10

WaywardWomen,OntheRoadandOnthePage

StephanieElizondoGRIEST

UniversityofIowa

stephanie

[email protected]

Neithertheroadnorthemarketplacehaseverseemedasopenforwomentravelwriters.ElizabethGilbertsEat,

Pray, Love spent 57weeks at theNo. 1 spot on the New York Times paperback nonfiction bestseller list, got

translatedinto30languages,andbecameamoviestarringJuliaRoberts.TheSanFranciscopublisherTravelersTales

boasts an entire line of womenthemed travel books that far outsell its genderneutral catalogue. Blogs like

WanderlustAndLipstickandwebsites likeJourneyWomanandTangoDivaabound.Buthowdoesthefield lookfrom

theground?

StephanieElizondoGriestwillshareherperspective,basedon15yearsoforbitingtheglobe (andpublishing four

books about it). She will discuss the issues women travel writers routinely face on the road, from navigating

conservativesocial

norms

to

using

perceived

vulnerabilities

to

their

advantage.

What

are

the

ethics

of

smoking

sheeshawiththemenwhilethewomenareclearingthetable?Howcansexualadvancesbegracefullyandsafely

thwarted?Underwhatcircumstancesshouldtearductsbedeployed?

Afterexploring theways inwhichgendercan impactajourney,ElizondoGriestwill ruminateonhow itshapesa

narrative, particularly when the goal is securing a sale with a New York City publishing house. Why are men

encouraged to pump their stories with action, facts, and figures, while women must incorporate memoiristic

elementssuchassoulbaringandreflection?ElizondoGriestwillalsomeditateonobstaclesfacedbywritersofcolor.

Howdolocalperceptionsofraceorethnicityaffectatravelersjourney?Whatrolecansocialjusticeplayinatravel

narrative?

Handoutswill include a list of publication venues that featurewomens travelwriting aswell as recommended

reading.

StephanieElizondoGriest isaglobetrottingauthorandactivist fromSouthTexas.Herbooks include theaward

winning travelmemoirsAround theBloc:My Life inMoscow,Beijing,andHavana andMexicanEnough:My Life

between theBorderlines aswell as thebestsellingguidebook100PlacesEveryWoman ShouldGo. Shehas also

written fortheNewYorkTimes,WashingtonPost,andTexasMonthly,andeditedthe2010volumeoftheannual

anthologyBestWomensTravelWriting.AsacorrespondentforTheOdyssey,sheoncedrove45,000milesacross

the United States for an educational website. Awards include a Henry Luce Scholarship to China, a yearlong

residencyatPrincetonUniversity,theMargolisAwardforSocialJusticeReporting,andtheGoldPrizeforBestBook

intheLowellThomasTravelJournalismCompetition.She isaMFACandidate intheNonfictionWritingProgramat

theUniversityofIowa.Visitherwebsiteatwww.aroundthebloc.com.


11/20



11

TravelWritingonIndonesiaandbyIndonesians

LilawatiKURNIA

GermanDepartmentandCulturalStudiesMasterProgramme

FacultyofHumanities,UniversitasIndonesia

[email protected]

Thearchipelagowhich isnow called Indonesia and consistsmore than13.000 islandswas already known to the

europeanseamaninthe17thand18thcentury.Europeantravellers,scientistsofthe18thcentury,andalsotravel

writerscametotheislands.TheseliteratureabouttheIndonesianislandsbecomeaguidebookforthetravellersand

writersfromthe2nd

halfofthe19thcenturyuntilearly20

thcentury.Theresearchthatwasdoneinmydissertationis

abouttheinvolvementofGermansinVOCs(VereenigdeOostindischeCompagnie)activitiesandtheircomingtothe

archipelago. Therewere at least 4GovernorGeneralswhowereoriginally fromGerman, e.g.Baron von Imhoff,

scientists like Junghuhun, Rumphius in Ambon, Carl Reinwardtwho established the botanical gardens, and also

artists likeWalterSpieswhosettled inBaliandwasvisitedbyotherworldartistssuchasCharlieChaplinandthe

writerVicky

Baum.

My

dissertation

took

4novels

which

were

written

by

Germans

who

have

visited

Indonesia.

Drawing from the theoretical frameworkofPeterBrenner, there are at least four categoriesof travelwriting: a

journalorscientificwritingaboutthetravel,adiaryorareportofthetravel,afictionalworkinspiredbythejourney,

andaguidebookorinformationaltextaboutthetravelitself.

Itturnsoutthat,theIndonesianswerealsofondoftravelling,inthe16/17th

centuryapersoncalledBujanggaManik

fromWestJavawalkedonfoottoEastJavaandwroteabouthis impressionsandobjectshesawalongtheway.In

addition,peopleof Islamic faithwho could,must travel far andwide on the annualpilgrimage toMecca, Saudi

Arabia.Twopeoplefromdifferentethnicbackgrounds oneBatakneseandoneJavanese wroteaboutthisjourney.

Therearealsothosewhounderwentthejourneybecauseitwastheirlifelongdream assuchcanbereadfromthe

booksofKarlMay.Writer SenoGumiraAjidarmaoften travelsasajournalist;oneofhisbooks isanessaywith

photos of the nine Wali (guardian/saint) who were considered as the pioneers of Islam in Java. The research

regarding

writings

of

Indonesian

travellers

have

also

noted

the

existence

of

literary

works

that

are

produced

through

contemplationorimpressionofthejourneys.However,theresearchisnotyetcompletedandforthatveryreasonI

wouldliketodelvefurtherintothematter.

Lilawati Kurnia teaches at German Department and Cultural Studies Master Programme at the Faculty of

Humanities,UniversitasIndonesia.SheobtainedherPhDattheFacultyofHumanities,UIandHerMagisterArtium

fromGesamthochschuleKassel,Germany.Shehaspublishedseveralarticlesi.a.ApidalamIngatan.MemoriKolektif

dalam Puisi SapardiDjokoDamono, in:Anthology Membaca Sapardi,Obor Publisher, 2010; Goethe and the

Multicultural Aspect of World Literature, Jurnal Susastra 4, June 2007; The Art of Culinary, Power and

Multiculturalism inMasterCookingBoy/TheRealMasterCookingBoy,byEtsushiOgawa.Wacana,Vol.8,No.2

October 2006, pages 202220; World Literature in the Discourse of Goethe and the Relevance with World

Globalization,

Jurnal

Susastra

Magazine,

HISKI

Journal,

Vol.1.

N0.3,

2006;

Transitition

of

Balinese

Culture

in

the

NovelWayanZwischenDrogenundDmonen,WacanaMagazine,OborPublisher,April2006.Shealsotranslatein

her free time and has published: EnglishBahasa Indonesia Ruang Publik, Identitas danMemori Kolektif: Jakarta

PascaSuharto (pengarang: Abidin Kusno), Penerbit: Ombak, Yogyakarta, 2009; and two german childern books

publishedbyOborpublisher(Penerbit:Obor,Jakarta2008.)


12/20



12

WarDiariesasTravelWriting:

JapaneseConscriptsandtheirDiscoveryofJapanintheRussoJapaneseWar

NaokoSHIMAZU


[email protected]

DuringtheRussoJapaneseWarof19045,overonemillionJapaneseconscriptsweremobilized.Manyofthemleft

recordsoftheirextraordinaryexperiencesaswardiaries.Oneofthemostrevealingaspectsoftheirwriting isthe

discoveryof Japanthroughtheirmobilizationasthey leavetheirhometownsandembarkontherailwayjourney

throughJapantotheportofembarkationinKurenearHiroshima.Thispaperwillarguethatthejourneyoffarewell

astheytravelledthroughJapanhadatransformativeeffectontheirsenseoftheself,astheygainedgraduallythe

sensibilityofwhatitmeanttobeaJapanesesoldier.

NaokoShimazu

is

currently

aVisiting

Senior

Research

Fellow

at

ARI,

and

Reader

in

Japanese

History,

Department

of

History, Classics and Archaeology, Birkbeck College,University of London. She has publishedwidely onmodern

Japanese history, and is the author of Japanese Society at War: Death, Memory and the RussoJapanese War

(CambridgeUniversityPress,2009),Nationalisms inJapan(editor,Routledge,2006),andJapan,RaceandEquality:

TheRacialEqualityProposalof1919(Routledge,1998).Hernewprojectisaculturalhistoryofdiplomacy,focusing

ontheBandungConferenceof1955.


13/20



13

XuXiakeandXiakeYoujiZHENGYi

ArtsFaculty,theUniversityofSydney


[email protected]

Thepaperstudiesthe intersectionbetweentransformationsoftravelgenresasestablished literatibelletristforms

and the development of motion, both conceptually and methodologically, as a necessary component in the

emergent empiricist knowledge formation in LateMing and earlyQingChina (15201750).Concentratingon the

travel notes (Xiake Youji) of the literatusknower Xu Hongzu (15861641) and his routes of geographic and

epistemologicalexplorations,Iwilltrytounderstandthesignificantchangesintravellingandgeographicknowledge,

butmoreimportantlyinhowmotionitselfbecomesavalueintheprocessofmovingandknowing.Thisstudywillbe

contextualizedintheworldandknowledgechangesrelatedtothenewpossibilitiesandscaleofmotiondeveloping

fromtheearlymodernglobaleconomicandculturalnetwork.

ZhengYi isaSeniorResearchFellowattheArtsFaculty,theUniversityofSydney.ShereceivedherPhD fromthe

UniversityofPittsburgh.SincethenshehasresearchedandtaughtmodernChineseliterature,comparativecultural

studies and intellectual history in the US, Germany, Israel and Australia. She has held fellowships from the

Wissenschaftskolleg (Institute forAdvanced Studies),Berlin;CollegiumBudapest (Institute forAdvanced Studies),

Budapest; and the Porter Institute for Comparative Poetics, Tel Aviv. Her areas of research interest include:

ComparativeandChinese intellectualhistory,culturalhistory,aesthetics;Modern (includingearlymodern) literary

culture, scientific culture; Contemporary cultural forms and historical contexts. She is currently aVisiting Senior

ResearchFellowattheAsiaResearchInstitute,NationalUniversityofSingapore.


14/20



14

EthicalCommitment:TravelWritingandCritics

TimYOUNGS

NottinghamTrentUniversity

[email protected]

Overthepastthirtyyearsorso,travelwritinghasbeenthesubjectofincreasedacademicattention,muchofitfrom

postcolonial andfeministscholars.Traveltextsfromearlierperiodshavebeenanalysedbymanytoshowthatfar

frombeingobjectiveandvaluefreerecordsofothercultures,societiesandlandscapes,theyinfacttransmit(evenif

theyaresometimes intensionwith)dominant ideologies.Suchcriticismoftenproceedsfromaconvictionthatthe

critic or theorist holds amorally superior position to the traveller,whose attitudes towards race and gender,

especially,areheldupforcondemnation.Mypaperwillpresentsomeofthiscriticism,withexamples(mainlyfrom

thenineteenthcentury)ofthekindofwritingthathasprovokeditandthatcanbeseentofunctionintheserviceof

imperialandpatriarchalpower.Lessremarkedupon,however,andthesubjectofthesecondpartofmypaper,isthe

statedorimpliedsuperiorityofsomecriticalandtheoreticalpositionsoverothers.Ishallexaminesomeexpressions

ofthis

and

ask

whether

they

constitute

aself

definition

against

others

that

is

analogous

to

the

processes

observed

in

travelwritingitself.

TimYoungs isProfessorofEnglishandTravelStudiesatNottinghamTrentUniversity,wherein2003hesetupthe

CentreforTravelWritingStudies. In1997he foundedthejournalStudies inTravelWriting,whichhecontinuesto

edit,andwhichfrom2009hasbeenpublished4timesperyearbyRoutledge.HisbooksincludeTravellersinAfrica

(1994),TheCambridgeCompaniontoTravelWriting (ed.withPeterHulme,2002),and (ed.)TravelWriting in the

NineteenthCentury (2006).He iscurrentlywritingTheCambridge IntroductiontoTravelWritingandworkingona

multivolumeanthologyofcriticalworksontravelwritingforRoutledge/Taylor&Francis.Hewasassociateeditor,

with responsibility for travelwriting,on the7th

editionofTheOxfordCompanion toEnglishLiterature (2010).He

publishesmainlyontravelwritingafter1900.


15/20



15

TravelLinesandPlacesofBelonging

CarolE.LEON

UniversityofMalaya

[email protected]

Mypaperrevisitsthekey issuesraised inmybookentitledMovementandBelonging:Lines,Places,andSpacesof

Travel inwhich I explore concepts of self, other, place and spacewithin the context of travel andmovement.

Underlying thediscussion is thenotionofbelongingand thewaysonecan finda senseof self inan increasingly

fragmentedworld.

MovementandBelonging:Lines,Places,andSpacesofTravelputforwardtheideathatplace/spaceandtravelshare

areciprocalrelationship.Indeedthediscourseofspatialityisadiscourseoftravelandtravellinescreateplacesand

spaceswhichultimatelydefinetheself.Withinthevitalbutfluctuatinglinkagesbetweenselfandplace,somesense

ofbelongingcanbeprocured.Theactof travel isencoded ingeometrical figuresof lines, surfaces,contoursand

triangulations,in

short

arrangements

in

aspatial

context.

The

theoretical

framework

of

the

book

derives

from

the

fundamental idea that travel is themovement that inheres in linesof travel.When travel linesarenomadicthey

causefissures inboundariesofrepresentationandthis,thebookcontends,makesforauthenticandethicaltravel.

True travel lies in thepassagebetween thepointofdepartureand thepointofarrival,and in the fluidityof the

passagebetweenthesepoints.ThetraveltextsanalyzedinmybookfocusontheIndianOceanregion.Thecountries

in this region arepostcolonial spaces in theprocessofdecolonization.At the same time, they are tilting to the

globalspaceeconomyofcapitalism.Theauthors in the travelnarrativesdiscussedareconstantlynegotiating the

spacesfromwheretheyspeakandtheplacesthattheyencounter.

Ibelievethatintheseuncertaintimes,whenplaceandspacehavebecomeemptysignsandasenseofbelongingis

hardtoexperience,travellinescouldbecomealiterarymatrixtoevokesitesofdefinitionandbelonging.

CarolE.LeonisAssociateProfessorofEnglishattheUniversityofMalaya,KualaLumpur.ShereceivedherPh.Din

travelliteraturefromtheAustralianNationalUniversity.SheistheauthorofMovementandBelonging:Lines,Places,

andSpacesofTravel(2009).Herfieldsofresearcharecontemporarytravelwritingsandpostcolonialliteratureand

shehaspublishedarticlesandchaptersintheseareas.


16/20



16

Encounters,StereotypesandtheCosmopolitanImagination:

TravelWritingfromSingapore

EddieTAY

DepartmentofEnglish,TheChineseUniversityofHongKong

[email protected]

InSingaporean literature, there isanemergingbodyof travelwritingand fictionalworksof travel literature that

critique assumptions, norms and boundaries of national life. Yet even as these texts are looking back upon

Singapore,theyareextendingtheirgazetoothernations. Insuchmomentsofencounterswithunfamiliarpeople

andplaces,thereemergepointsofanxietywherebythenarratorrealizesthathistoricalandculturalknowledgeas

authorizedbytheSingaporeannationarenolongerprivilegedsitesofidentityconstruction.Inthispaper,Iexamine

moments intextswherestereotypesarepointsofdeparture foranemergingcosmopolitanismconsciousness.Yet

thetextssucceedtovaryingdegrees.Somearemoreeffectivethanothersinthewaytheyengagewithstereotypes.

Whilesomeacknowledgetheirown limitsofunderstanding,othersembraceasetofstereotypesthatcirculates in

transnationalroutes

of

capitalist

production.

I argue that one of the key issues in contemporary travelwriting is to document ones encounterswith others

without reproducing an image of the other that lends itself to easy appropriation for various nationalist and

corporatist agenda. I shall adapt fromMarthaC.Nussbaums considerationofKantsnotionof cosmopolitanism,

exploringthenotionthatthecosmopolitan imagination isanexilic imagination, inthatonedistancesoneselffrom

local,nationaland/orcorporatist loyaltiesand livesapartfromasocialgroupthat is likeaparentwhowilldohis

thinking forhim (NussbaumKantandCosmopolitanism35).Exile,ofcourse,connotesasenseofhardshipand

suffering.However, it remains tobe said that the travelwriter inhisorherwritings is embarkingon a formof

internalexile,seekingtoencounterothersontheirownterms.

EddieTay

teaches

creative

writing

at

the

Department

of

English,

Chinese

University

of

Hong

Kong.

His

recent

book

is

entitledColony,NationandGlobalisation:NotatHomeinSingaporeanandMalaysianLiterature(HKUPress,2011).

He isalsotheauthorofthreepoetrycollections, themostrecentbeingTheMentalLifeofCities(2010).He isthe

reviewseditoroftheonlinequarterlyjournalCha:AnAsianLiteraryJournalfoundedin2007.

Atpresent,his research focuseson creativewriting inEnglish in SingaporeandHongKong.The titleofa recent

journalarticlepublishedinNewWriting:TheInternationalJournalfortheTheoryandPracticeofCreativeWritingis

Multiculturalisms,Mistranslations and Bilingual Poetry:OnWriting as a Chinese.Another (coauthored) article

entitledOnLearning,TeachingandthePursuitofCreativeWriting inSingaporeandHongKong isforthcoming in

thesamejournal.


17/20



17

FromColonialtoCosmopolitanVisions:DetoursinTheoryofTravel

DinahRomaSIANTURI

Asia,ResearchInstitute,NationalUniversityofSingapore

[email protected]

Thecritical literatureon travelwriting in1990s, fueledbypostcolonialcritique,affirmsthegenresrole in forging

imperial discourses. Travel Writing, Form, and Empire: The Poetics and Politics of Mobility (2009) defines this

narrative authority to represent the Rest as the dichotomy betweenmobility and stasiswithmobility as the

imperialbodyskeyattributewhile itsattendantvalueofcuriositymorphs intoadrivetodescribe,systemizeand,

hence,ownknowledge.

The seemingprogressof/in travel theory in the recentdecade,however,hasnot stopped critics fromasking the

question:canthephenomenonoftravel(andthenarrativesarisingfrom it)shed itsorigins;doattemptsatwriting

moreculturally sensitivenarrativesconfirm travelgenresdiscursivematurity? InGlobalPoliticsofContemporary

TravelWriting

(2007),

Debbie

Lisle

asserts

that

underlying

the

veneer

of

civility

are

the

old

tropes

of

colonial

travel

narrativesthatarenowemployedinmoresophisticated,humorous,andselfdeprecatingtone.

The search for a global reader turns into a delusive goal as one negotiates the continuum from colonial to

cosmopolitanvisions.Giventhisframework,thepaperreflectsonsomeofthedetours inrecenttraveltheory:Has

thegenrereacheditslevelofdiscontent?Hasthegenreinfactexhausteditself?Hasthecontemporaryliberalization

oftravelandmobilityrupturedtheconventionalmodesoftravelwriting?Or,doesthecurrentcriticalpreoccupation

withtraveltheorydefinemoretheindubitablehurdlesitisupagainstthanthepossibilitiesofitdivestingitselfofits

oldtaint?Whereistraveltheory'snextdestination?

DinahRomaSianturiisanAssociateProfessorofLiteratureatDeLaSalleUniversityandiscurrentlyonatwoyear

research

fellowship

at

the

National

University

of

Singapore

Asia

Research

Institute

to

finish

the

book

A

Trail

Out

of

theDark:PhilippineColonialTravelNarratives,19001930s.Hergeographicareaof interestalso includesJapanon

whichshehasdonestudies(throughthesupportoftheJapaneseMinistryofEducationandtheJapanFoundation)

onitspostwarfilmandcinema,andthediscourseofnostalgiaoncontemporarytravelnarrativesonJapan.Hermost

recentwork inquires into how Japan is reenvisioned in contemporary Southeast Asian fiction. For her creative

works,herfirstbookAFeastofOrigins(UST,2004)wasgiventheNationalBookAwardforLiteraturebytheManila

CriticsCirclewhilehercollectionofpoemsGeographiesofLight(2007)wonaCarlosPalancaMemorialAwardfor

Literature.


18/20



18

PilgrimageorTourism:WhatsTheDifference?

21stCenturyMassVisitstoSacredSpacesandtheirImplicationsonHeritagePreservation

AnaMariaTheresaP.LABRADOR

NationalMuseumofthePhilippines

[email protected]

Thepaperwill focusonthe21stcenturyvisitstoplacesthat isstillbeingusedassacredsitesanddestinationsof

pilgrimages. I am interested in the consequences ofmass tourism as themarket and its logistics becomemore

accessibletovisitors.Asamuseologist,Iamconcernedwiththepossibilitiesofmakingcollectionsaccessibletothe

pointofhavingpeoplequeuetoseeexhibitions.Itisonewayofgaugingamuseumorheritagesitessuccess.

However, on amore practical level, current scientific research indicates thatmore visitors to heritage sites are

putting collections and ancient buildings at risk as visitors warm bodies, dirt brought in from their shoes and

clothingaswellasopeningand closingof sites'doors, cause relativehumidityand temperature to fluctuateand

pollutantsto

increase.

These

considerations

of

agents

of

deterioration

pose

challenges

for

heritage

sites

especially

thosemanagingsacredspaces,perhaps inseekingabalancebetweenpreservationandopenness?Thisbalance is

necessaryasthese livingheritageplaceswheredevoteesfindsignificance intheobjects,buildingsandsites,must

nowcompeteforspaceswithtouristswhohavemoreprosaicaimsfortheirvisits.

Besidesmyresearchonheritageconservationandaccess,IwillincludeinthispaperobservationsfromtheWatPho

inBangkok,Basilicas inRomeandotherfamoustouristssitesthatarealsoplacesofworship.Itwill investigatethe

effectofthepopularSevenWonderslistespeciallythoseincludedintoptwentyaswellasthosewhoselivesdepend

onthesesites.Finally,asacasestudyIwillpresentthechallengesthatAngkorWatfaceswith2millionvisitorsthat

visiteditlastyearandtheexperienceofpartsofAngkorWatinCambodiathatisopentothepublic.

AnaMaria

Theresa

P.

Labrador

is

research

associate

for

anthropology

at

the

National

Museum

of

the

Philippines.

Sheisreceiveda2010AustralianLeadershipAwardsFellowshipandundertookresearchfromJunetoDecemberto

investigatetheintersectionoflandscapes,heritagesitesandpostminingrehabilitationinAustralia.TheUniversityof

Cambridge inEngland awardedher anMPhil andPhD in SocialAnthropology, focusingon ritual,museology and

materialculture.ShealsoobtainedaMAinMuseumandGalleryManagementfromtheCityUniversityLondon,UK.

Dr Labrador hashad extensive fieldexperience, studying ethnicity, representation andmaterial culture in Luzon

(Philippines),andexpatriateFilipinosinSoutheastAsiaandEurope.In2009,sheledateamofresearchersinbuilding

adatabasetocreateacommunitybasedheritagetourismprogrammeinTayabas.ShecontinuestoworkwithLuzon

communities inTayabas (Quezon), San Fernando (LaUnion)andMagalang (Pampanga) to assist themwith their

heritageconservationneedsanddevelopingmuseumsintheirlocalities.


19/20



19

Shopping,MeritMakingandMeditating:

SpiritualTourisminContemporaryThailand

JoannaClaireCOOK

SouthEastAsianStudiesatChristsCollege,Cambridge

AsiaResearch

Institute,

National

University

of

Singapore

[email protected]

This paper examines the promotion of meditation as a tourism activity for domestic tourists in Thailand. The

increasing democratisation of lay meditation practice is leading to its incorporation into syncretic and multiple

worlds. In combinationwith the promotion of sacred Thai pilgrimage sites and the development ofmeditation

centresabletoaccommodatedandteachlargenumbersoflaystudents,spiritualtourismstructuredaroundmerit

making activities andmeditation practice is increasing becoming an attractive activity for Thai tourists. Through

ethnographic analysis and a consideration of the promotion literature developed by the Tourism Authority of

Thailandthispaperexaminestherepackagingofmeditationandthemultiplemotivationsofgoodtourists.

Joanna Claire Cook is a George Kingsley Roth Research Fellow in South East Asian Studies at Christs College,

Cambridge.She iscurrentlya Visiting Research Fellow in the Religion and Globalisation Cluster, at the Asia Research

Institute, National University of Singapore. She receivedbothherPhDandMPhil in SocialAnthropology from the

UniversityofCambridge.ShehaswrittenandlecturedontheAnthropologyofEthics,Asceticism,Religion,Buddhism,

FieldworkMethodology,theGiftandGender.Hercurrentresearchonthedemocratizationofreligiouspractice in

Thailandexploresthecomplexinterplaybetweenmedicalpractice,internationalismandcivilsociety.DrCookhasa

longstandingresearchinvolvementwithThailand.Herearlierresearchfocusedonmeditationasamonasticactivity.

Herrecentmonograph,publishedbyCambridgeUniversityPress,exploresthesubjectivesignificationofmonastic

duties and ascetic practices focusing particularly on the motivation and experience of renouncers, the effect

meditativepracticeshaveon individualsandcommunityorganization,andgenderhierarchywithin thecontextof

themonastery.


20/20



LISTOFSPEAKERS&CHAIRPERSONS

NO. NAME ORGANISATION EMAILADDRESS

1. AnaMariaTheresaP.

Labrador

Anthropology,NationalMuseumofthePhilippines [email protected]

2. BettyHagglund DeptofEnglish,NottinghamTrentUniversity,UK,CentreforPostgraduate QuakerStudies,

UniversityofBirmingham,UK

[email protected]

3. CarolE.Leon UniversityofMalaya [email protected]

4. ChuaBengHuat AsiaResearchInstitute&DeptofSociologyNationalUniversityofSingapore [email protected]

5. DinahRomaSianturi AsiaResearchInstitute,NationalUniversityofSingapore

[email protected]

6. EddieTay DeptofEnglish,

TheChineseUniversityofHongKong

[email protected]

7. HellwigTineke

Asia

Research

Institute,

[email protected]

8. JoannaClaireCook SouthEastAsianStudies,ChristsCollege,UKAsiaResearchInstitute,


[email protected]

9. KyokoNakajima Novelist,Japan [email protected]

10. LeoChing AsiaResearchInstitute,NationalUniversityofSingapore

[email protected]

11. LilawatiKurnia GermanDeptandCulturalStudiesMaster

Programme,UniversitasIndonesia

[email protected],

[email protected]

12. MaureenHelen

Hickey

Asia

Research

Institute,

[email protected]

13. NaokoShimazu AsiaResearchInstitute,NationalUniversityofSingapore

[email protected]

14. PeterMarolt AsiaResearchInstitute,NationalUniversityofSingapore

[email protected]

15. PhilipHolden EnglishLanguage&LiteratureandUniversityScholarsProgramme,


[email protected]

16. RobinHemley NonfictionWritingProgram,TheUniversityofIowa;NonfictionEditor,TheIowaReview;

Editor,

Defunct

(Defunctmag.com)

[email protected]

17. StephanieElizondoGriest UniversityofIowa [email protected]

18. ThongchaiWinichakul AsiaResearchInstitute,NationalUniversityofSingapore

[email protected]

19. TimYoungs NottinghamTrentUniversity,UK [email protected]

20. VicenteGarciaGroyon DeptofLiterature,DeLaSalleUniversityManila,Philippines

[email protected]

21. ZhengYi AsiaResearchInstitute,


[email protected]

Travel Writing Workshop

Documents

Transcript of Travel Writing Workshop