Nella mente di Sir Richard F. Burton, Patrick Leigh Fermor e Bruce Chatwin: note sul viaggio e la Modernità
Capitolo di libro
Data di Pubblicazione:
2021
Abstract:
In the minds of Sir Richard F. Burton, Patrick Leigh Fermor and Bruce Chatwin: some notes on travel and modernity – A necessary step to interpret the relationship between travel and
Modernity is through the analysis of those travellers who walked along the path of the
historical and cultural disruption that began in the 15th century in Italy, when Ptolemy’s
Geographia was rediscovered. The drive towards exploration with the aim of filling the
gaps in the representation of the Earth – following the new idea of modern space which
was brought up by Ptolemy – is crowded along the centuries with figures who, throughout their lives, welded the discovery of the world to the romantic subject bearing
the name of Mankind. In the 19th century, the elite phenomenon of traveling gives way
to the involvement of the middle class – previously excluded – also thanks to the improvement of new tools for reading the world (i.e. the travel guide, whose fundamental
archetypes are those of Baedeker and Murray). At the same time, a new model of man on
the move was emerging among travelers who detached themselves from the growing
tourism industry and were committed to continuing the mission of exploring the world
but at the speed and with the amount of voracity that the century allowed in that time.
Sir Richard F. Burton is perhaps the most complex and complete example of a traveler
transiting between the territories of the world and those of literature, languages and “the different ways that men have of being men”. Inspired by his figure, his successors Patrick Leigh Fermor and Bruce Chatwin will deepen the relationship between body, mind and travel, giving rise to the most original examples of nomadic travelers.
In the first part of this work, the origin of the first tourist guides is traced as well as the
standardizing functions they exercise on the reality they describe, such as Central Europe
in the case of Baedeker. In the second part, through the reconstruction of the thoughts
and steps of the travelers mentioned, we will try to grasp the most recent passages of the
modern evolution of the traveler’s mind.
Modernity is through the analysis of those travellers who walked along the path of the
historical and cultural disruption that began in the 15th century in Italy, when Ptolemy’s
Geographia was rediscovered. The drive towards exploration with the aim of filling the
gaps in the representation of the Earth – following the new idea of modern space which
was brought up by Ptolemy – is crowded along the centuries with figures who, throughout their lives, welded the discovery of the world to the romantic subject bearing
the name of Mankind. In the 19th century, the elite phenomenon of traveling gives way
to the involvement of the middle class – previously excluded – also thanks to the improvement of new tools for reading the world (i.e. the travel guide, whose fundamental
archetypes are those of Baedeker and Murray). At the same time, a new model of man on
the move was emerging among travelers who detached themselves from the growing
tourism industry and were committed to continuing the mission of exploring the world
but at the speed and with the amount of voracity that the century allowed in that time.
Sir Richard F. Burton is perhaps the most complex and complete example of a traveler
transiting between the territories of the world and those of literature, languages and “the different ways that men have of being men”. Inspired by his figure, his successors Patrick Leigh Fermor and Bruce Chatwin will deepen the relationship between body, mind and travel, giving rise to the most original examples of nomadic travelers.
In the first part of this work, the origin of the first tourist guides is traced as well as the
standardizing functions they exercise on the reality they describe, such as Central Europe
in the case of Baedeker. In the second part, through the reconstruction of the thoughts
and steps of the travelers mentioned, we will try to grasp the most recent passages of the
modern evolution of the traveler’s mind.
Tipologia CRIS:
2.1 Contributo in volume (Capitolo o Saggio)
Keywords:
Traveler’s mind; Modernity; Richard F. Burton; Patrick Leigh Fermor; Bruce Chatwin
Elenco autori:
Modaffari, Giovanni; Zilli, Sergio
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Link al Full Text:
Titolo del libro:
I viaggi e la modernità. Dalle grandi esplorazioni geografiche ai mondi extraterrestri