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Imperial Eyes: Studies in Travel Writing and Transculturation
This second edition of a highly acclaimed and interdisciplinary book which quickly established itself as a seminal text in its field investigates the way in which travel writing has constructed an image of the world beyond Europe for European readerships.
Focusing on writing about South America and Africa in relation to the political and economic expansion of Europe, this l...more
Focusing on writing about South America and Africa in relation to the political and economic expansion of Europe, this l...more
Paperback, 272 pages
Published
February 27th 1992
by Routledge
(first published January 30th 1992)
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Feb 08, 2008
sdw
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
eco-critics, environmental historians, literature and empire
Recommended to sdw by:
dissertation director
Shelves:
literarycriticism,
mydissertation
Pratt examines the intersections between travel writing and empire. She examines how the ideals of natural history both developed with the expansion of empire and then contributed to a travel writing that produced imperial relationships in the “planetary consciousness” deployed in its production. This scientific mode complemented another style of travel writing popular at the same time which fit a model of commerce but sentimentalized it through romance. Both the desired trade and the represente...more
Dec 10, 2009
Eromsted
added it
Pratt takes as her topic the interesting question of how Europeans talked to themselves in the realm of popular culture about the imperial enterprises they undertook in late 18th and the 19th centuries. The most useful aspect of the book is the selection of telling examples of travel writing as justification of imperialism, and especially the notion of cultural superiority.
Unfortunately Pratt's analysis is in the overwrought mode, typically titled "postmodernism," which infected much of the acad...more
Unfortunately Pratt's analysis is in the overwrought mode, typically titled "postmodernism," which infected much of the acad...more
Few scholarly studies achieve a stance that is both critical and impartial -- to do so, one must allow the texts studied to speak largely for themselves: allowing them the rope to hang themselves, as it were. Pratt manages this marvelously, and continues this balance across a wide range of travel literature dealing with Africa and South America, much of it European. However, Pratt is also ethically acute enough to find counter-narratives in what she calls "autoethnographic" expression, the write...more
Awesome book. I learned so much more than I can say from it. I constantly reference/think about this book in daily life and school. Great commentary on how the world is based on a fairly "western" European culture and tradition. It gives insight as to why this has developed and is hard to change.
Imperial Eyes is to be considered as an analysis of the personality of real Europeans, it takes on consideration a concept that most people must wonder, How every beautiful thing is related and centralized to Europe, and How every awful thing is related to the East, in other words, she could considered as a new alien of Edward Said, the Orientalist writer.
Given the number of references I've seen to this book, I thought it would be a fount of quotes for my research on the discourse of tourism. Alas, it was not.
This is a classic work of travel theory, very much worth a look. Read in conjunction with Steven Clark's Travel Writing and Empire.
Great read and study of travel literature written by Europeans on their "adventures" in Africa and the Americas. I personally enjoyed the chapters on the reinvention of America.
Nov 20, 2011
Maja
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
non-fiction,
books-i-own
Not particularly impressed by this book. At all. I had hoped for something a little general about travel writing and transculturation, but I found this to be very specialized and centered on Africa and South America, completely ignoring Asia. So no, not impressed.
Clear, precise, and helpful academic study of travel writing. Fascinating reading of Linnaeus's classification system in relation to the production of European knowledge about other cultures, peoples, systems, etc.
pratt's classic is still one of the most useful scholarly investigations, with a wide array of applications across disciplines. her thoughts and principles are clear, her examples engaging and far-reaching.
May 31, 2013
Khloe
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May 14, 2013
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May 07, 2013
Siham
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Apr 17, 2013
Nick Greer
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Mar 21, 2013
Stephanie McGarrah
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Mar 19, 2013
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