230653 North American Travel Writing (BS) (SoSe 2022)

In 1864 the writer and critic Henry Tuckerman remarked: “Perhaps there is no class of books more characteristic of the American mind than the numerous records of modern exploration and travel.” Indeed, the nineteenth century was the “golden age” of travel and travel writing in the United States as well as other Western nations. Yet, narratives of journeys to, within, and outward from North America have played a key role in the perception and formation, and self-conception of the region and its societies from the arrival of the European colonizers to this day. The seminar will examine different types and routes of travel and travel writing about North America or by persons from the region against the backdrop of North American history and cultures. Types of travelogues to be studied will include, among others, the narratives of explorers and colonists, settlers and immigrants, adventurers, writers, and other traveling professionals from the colonial period to the twentieth century.