Project Details
Popular science description
The topic of my dissertation is contemporary travel writing and globalization discourses. I am interested in how globalization discourses are constructed in travel narratives and how ideas about globalization are used to create identities. I have mainly studied travel magazines and how they offer the readers a privileged cosmopolitan identity.
The topic of my dissertation is contemporary travel writing and globalization discourses. Since the late 20th century the world has seen some dramatic changes, not least through the technological developments that have facilitated increased communications, intercultural contacts and a global media market. People travel in unprecedented numbers, both for leisure and work, and the number of refugees is increasing.
Globalization affects everybody but it is a very uneven process that also creates increased segregation and distance. The promises of a borderless cosmopolitan world can only be realised by a privileged few. Globalization is also a myth, and to define what globalization means is a privilege in itself.
I am interested in how globalization discourses are constructed in travel writing, and how ideas about what globalization entails are used to create identity and group membership. How is a privileged cosmopolitan identity created? How are different places and tourist destinations used to create such an identity? Are the old myths of the exotic challenged by the increase in travel and intercultural contacts since the late 20th century? Or are contemporary texts a mix of old and new myths?
The topic of my dissertation is contemporary travel writing and globalization discourses. Since the late 20th century the world has seen some dramatic changes, not least through the technological developments that have facilitated increased communications, intercultural contacts and a global media market. People travel in unprecedented numbers, both for leisure and work, and the number of refugees is increasing.
Globalization affects everybody but it is a very uneven process that also creates increased segregation and distance. The promises of a borderless cosmopolitan world can only be realised by a privileged few. Globalization is also a myth, and to define what globalization means is a privilege in itself.
I am interested in how globalization discourses are constructed in travel writing, and how ideas about what globalization entails are used to create identity and group membership. How is a privileged cosmopolitan identity created? How are different places and tourist destinations used to create such an identity? Are the old myths of the exotic challenged by the increase in travel and intercultural contacts since the late 20th century? Or are contemporary texts a mix of old and new myths?
| Status | Finished |
|---|---|
| Effective start/end date | 2007/09/01 → 2011/12/31 |