Background and Proposal for Research

Travel writing is an increasingly popular genre of writing, both on paper and on the internet. Its popularity has increased significantly since the creation of the blogosphere; in fact, Technorati lists 253 popular travel blogs, and that number only accounts for a small percentage of the total being composed on the internet today.  Most of the studies regarding travel writing and its rhetorical effects have been critics of traditional literature; however, there appears to be no significant research being done specifically on the composition of travel blogs.   Critics of travel writing assess its ethos and rhetorical constructs by viewing it generally through critical and cultural theory lenses, in other words, evaluating the socio-political and economic connotations of such writing.  Since scholars seem to focus on the effects of such literature especially in terms of the author’s intent and target audience, it naturally follows that such analysis should be done for travel blogs.  

Considering the scope and popularity of travel blogs, and the increasing accessibility of the internet, it seems necessary to evaluate the constructs that make them so appealing, and to whom they are most attractive.  The fact that they entail and promote an activity that, regardless of the scenario, requires two commodities: time and money.  These are commodities that are not a luxury experienced by every individual, so this suggests that there is an elitist quality, or rather, they could be composed of what Jonathan P.A. Sell calls “wonder text.” This research necessitates such extensive detail as is reflected by the glaring lack of applicable analysis of this ever-growing genre of writing that becomes more popular among web users every day. 

As a popular genre among the internet-savvy population, the significance of this study lies in the evaluation of its many effects on its particular readers. Examining the rhetorical makeup of such sites means determining whether or not there is a propagandistic bias towards those of a higher socio-economic status, or whether these sites merely intend to relate stories as a narrative style merely for exposition.  There is also a question of accessibility, not only because this genre is on the web, but also because of the context by which they are successful on the web may reflect an elitist construct. As an individual who both explores and participates in the blogosphere, and also as an individual with a fascination for travel and the writing that depicts it,  I see it is even more pertinent that there is work done to determine the persuasive mechanisms that may inherently surround the creation of travel blogs.

This blog’s purpose is to annotate working bibliography of relevant sources that will act as both foundation and springboard for this research on travel blogs.  Sources range from texts analyzing travel writing in novel form to blog posts to critical essays focused not only on the genre, but also lifestyle blogging and the rhetorical forms of which they are composed.

Research Conclusions/Directions

From first reviewing the varying approaches for analyzing travel writing, it appears that the implications of the genre’s rhetoric are clearly at issue for many critics.  However, when placing the lens of critical theory (and also applying postcolonial, gender, feminist theories) upon travel writing on the internet, it seems the problems of audience still remain problematic.  In order to test this theory, I will need to synthesize the analyses of travel literature, the critiques of new media and digital rhetorics, and sociological implications of travel as an industry in order to fully illustrate all the possible intended and unintended effects of travel blogs.  Using this wide array of background research, I will be able to begin to trace any indications of elitism or exclusion, or any means of manipulation, by further examining specific travel blogs and interviewing travel blog followers.

My desire in this research is to answer for myself the level to which there exists an inherent bias in the creation of content that naturally lends itself toward those of higher socio-economic status.  Even I consider myself privileged because of my fortune of having traveled often, and I realize that I am biased toward these sites for this very reason.  However, it remains to be seen whether or not the rhetoric of these sites actually intend to exclude certain groups, or whether they hope to open the doors of possibility merely by relating stories that may be of interest to varying audiences.  There are only few ways to find this answer, and these ultimately create the strategies for my research.

Issues in travel writing: empire, spectacle, and displacement

Siegel, K. (2002). Issues in travel writing: empire, spectacle, and displacement. New York: Peter Lang.

Kristi Siegal’s compilation of essays characterizes the current attention to travel writing and the ways to best categorize this writing as genre.   Siegal divides her book into three sections: one regarding postcolonial theory, one addressing cultural and spiritual landscapes, and one discussing identity and diaspora.  The collections covers the growing critical interest in autobiography and its relationship to travel writing, as well as comment on multiculturalism, nationalism, colonialism, and post-colonialism.  The essays synthesize work done to examine issue relevant to travel and travel writing, and the authors prescribe the genre as having many cultural and sociological side effects (largely due to the authorial voice, the question of audience, and the treatment of experience).   To further highlight the significance of this realm of study, the essays discuss the works of many of the most critically acclaimed writers of the contemporary age.  Kristi Siegal is Associate Professor and Chair of English (and the Languages, Literature, and Communication Division) at Mount Mary College in Wisconsin. and she continues to focus on the critical and cultural  implications of popular genres of writing, not only in antiquity, but also modernity.

This text provides ample critiques of contemporary travel writing, although it doesn’t venture into the digital realm.  Siegal evenly balances the essays as a working conversation between authors, which provides effective questions for my research into travel blogs.  Some such questions raised by this text are: what are the lingering effects of “empire” on travel blogging? How do travel blogs create a sense of illusion and spectacle within the guise of reality?  How can a travel blogger depict a conscientious humanism without losing the “sell” factor?  Overall, Siegal compiles a necessary cache of criticism for application to the digital replica of the travel genre.

Travel Blogs and the Implications for Destination Marketing

Crotts, J. et al.  “Travel Blogs and the Implications for Destination Marketing.”  Journal of Travel Research August 2007 vol. 46 no. 1 35-45

This article explores travel blogs as a means of narrating personal travel experience for the benefit of other travelers, other bloggers, or any participating audience.  Crotts et al synthesize the contents of three major travel blogs and search engines to detect trends and patterns recurrent in each in order to reach a conclusion as to the purpose of each.  Since this article focuses mainly on the actual content of the blogs, and not the rhetoric – especially as sales pitches for tourist destinations – it locates the primary appeals for travelers to a specific locale (in this case, Charleston, SC). The attraction to this destination, according to three major travel blogs, had to do with the city’s charm, hospitality, and beaches; in contrast, the downfall of the location had to do with weather, infrastructure, and dining.  Basically, this article’s qualitative approach is meant to show that travel blogs are an affordable way to market and assess travel experiences.

Although this article does not address the rhetorical makeup of travel blogs, it does focus on a possible audience and purpose.  This approach does lend to the notion that the rhetoric of this genre has a specific goal and intended effect, which might indeed reflect a division of audience members based on socio-economic criteria.  Even if travel blogs are meant as sales pitches, this still adds complexity to the already obvious exclusion of certain parties or audiences from participation.  Adding the actual economic side effects of such websites adds further depth to this research.

Writing for Whom? Cognition, Motivation, and a Writer's Audience

Magnifico, A.M.  “Writing for Whom?  Cognition, Motivation, and a Writer's Audience.”  Educational Psychologist Jul-Sep2010, Vol. 45 Issue 3, p167-184

“As a result of this visible shift in relationship between writers and readers of electronic media, it has become possible to see more clearly the dynamics of how writers think about and interact with their audiences.”  This quote represents many key ideas as to the changing dynamics of rhetoric and its application to shifting audiences.  Aleceia Magnifico’s lively pedagogical article addresses the current climate of teaching composition especially in light of today’s new media and how audiences should be addressed in specific genres and styles.  Magnifico sets out to “examine the history of audience within writing research” in order to observe and analyze “how conceptualizations of audience have shifted over time… and why, in this climate of rapid technological change, it is important to begin [to build] an understanding of writing that draws from several perspectives: the cognitive, the sociocultural, and the sociocognitive.”  Magnifico offers a review of literature dealing with the social and cognitive processes of writing, from motivations to conceptualizations.  She then addresses the affects of the examination of the role of audience in light of new media learning environments as a doorway to further reaches of composition inspirations. 

As this article is focused in pedagogy, it offers a sense of what might be at the heart of composition teaching in the next years as we address new media and its role.  As such, Magnifico touches on an area of rhetorical study that lends insight in to the analysis of travel writing in blog form.  The critique of existing texts regarding current composition studies can shed light on the interests of up-and-coming writers and the audiences they hope to reach. The research applies to the study of travel blogs in that it adds depth to the rhetorical concept of audience for persuasive purposes. 

Interface as Exordium: The Rhetoric of Interactivity

Carnegie, T.A.M. “Interface as Exordium: The Rhetoric of Interactivity.” Computers & Composition Sep2009, Vol. 26 Issue 3, p164-173

In his article, Teena Carnegie of Eastern Washington University addresses the rhetoric of interface, arguing that where new media is created, it functions as what he calls an “exordium to engage users and to dispose them to persuasion.”  Via thorough exploration of the varying areas in which computer software meets people, Carnegie argues that there exists a set of three modes of interactivity: manipulability, multi-directionality and presence.  In categorizing these “modes,” she qualifies the areas where classical rhetorical terms apply to design and software technology.  She purports that the power of techno-rhetoric lies in its growing invisibility as the persuasive techniques that are imbedded in the communication design also employ subtle manipulation. Carnegie applies the tools of classical rhetoric so that users might remain hyper-aware of the various degrees of engagement in order to identify the locus of power. 

Although this article seems fitted best for tech-comm or otherwise digitally savvy audiences, it serves my research in that it addresses the connection between classical rhetorical concepts and modern applications in new media communication.  Where travel blogs are concerned, what this article suggests is that no matter the genre of writing applied to a website, there is some degree of persuasion that enables its popularity.  Carnegie’s synthesis of what makes the interface invisible, thus suggesting the ubiquitous nature of the rhetorical constructs therein, makes clear the necessity of closely analyzing the content in order to be completely savvy to all messages implied or inferred.  A necessary element for my research is addressing this effect of the digital application of language and how it may or may not complicate an already-complex rhetorical issue.  In order to examine this element, Carnegie has done a degree of the applicable work in this article.

Rose, M. “Opinion: Writing for the Public.” College English Jan2010, Vol. 72 Issue 3, p284-292.

This article written by educator and composition pedagogy specialist, Mike Rose, moves to illustrate the challenges for classroom teachers in relating to their students the importance of composing well-formed opinion pieces for the public.  As a teacher for many years and a researcher/writer in the years since, Rose is an active voice for composition studies who stretches the limits of best practices and pushes for new techniques.   He candidly describes his writing life and experiences as example for approaches to opinion writing, stopping to discuss the stresses acquired in trying to write for a wider audience. He mentions that the influences of media entertainment trends on news and commentary has had a converse effect on today’s writers because it has caused a disconnect between the audience and purpose. The issue that he sees is most pressing is that rhetorical and ethical approaches are deemed the realm of academic writing and seem to be left out of public writing.

Although Mike Rose isn’t necessarily discussing travel writing or blogging, I gather from his work that such writing may be guided by demonstrations of badly constructed writing.  If there are numerous popular sites that employ the trends of entertainment media, and therefore engage their audiences for the purposes of consumerism, advertising, hype, or fantasy, then there is an ethical issue that needs to be addressed for the benefit of the audience’s impression of what this writing should accomplish.  Opinions and experiences, especially where they are meant to influence public response, need to reflect a human dignity as well as conscience to establish ethos. Perhaps Rose’s observations of the failures of composition to exemplify sound rhetoric also lends to a failure of some blogs to successfully connect audiences to a desired effect of realism.

Hayton, K. “New Expressions of the Self: Autobiographical Opportunities on the Internet.”  Journal of Media Practice Jun2009, Vol. 10 Issue 2&3, p199-213 15p

Kavita Hayton’s article explores the expression of personal blogging through the genre of autobiography.  Her focus on media versus print technology highlights a critique of cultural status of the genre of personal blogging, and she works her thesis into a means of deciding whether or not this means of publishing is authentic or real.  The main question she seems to allude to has to do with whether or not professional writers prefer print to digital publishing – and she leans toward the idea that print still wins.  However, Hayton has an agenda to press for new consideration for the significance of writing in the online community, and she does so by offering some insight into the future of “blooks” and e-publishing having published online herself.

As an article that addresses personal blogs as autobiography and narrative, it lends a key connection to the notions of classifying travel blogging as fitting this category.  The attitudes illustrated here suggest that there may still be issues classifying travel blogs as their own genre, however, as personal experience blogs instead of journey fiction, this may offer insight into their popularity.  Hayton’s ideas regarding new media and its effects on audience raises key questions as to the effects and implications o

Morris, Jan. (2009, Sept.) “The allure of travel writing.” The Smithsonian. <http://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/Where-in-the-World-Intro.html>

Jan Morrison, who is a renowned travel writer herself, composes this piece for The Smithsonian in an effort to comment on the challenges that face contemporary travel writers. She suggests that the criteria for “good” travel writing is shifting with the attitudes on and accessibility of travel.  According to Morrison, travel writers these days “are recording the effects of places or movements upon their own particular temperaments—recording the experience rather than the event, as they might make literary use of a love affair, an enigma or a tragedy.”  From the perspective of her own experience with/expression of travel, she views the danger that many new writers are venturing closer to a type of fiction rather than a documentation of a journey.  She sense that much of the new travel writing (including blogs) involves more spectacle than reality, and she warns against sensationalizing a genre that should employ careful discretion.

Morrison’s article is a first-hand confirmation that the current state of travel writing may be problematized by “wonder” rhetoric.  The trend could be troubling especially considering the guise of realism that travel writing commonly hides within or underneath.  This view provides ample reaffirmation that travel blogs may contain the illusion of spirit-of-adventure and magical fiction that characterized much of early travel writing.  Morrison, being a travel writer and critic, establishes a dual expertise in the area that will be very insightful when applied to my survey of latest travel blogs.

Extreme Pursuits: travel/writing in an age of globalization

Huggan, G. (2009). Extreme pursuits: travel/writing in an age of globalization. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

Graham Huggan, professor of Commonwealth and Postcolonial Literatures at the University of Leeds, takes a political approach to his critique of travel writing as he addresses the issues that arise out of the shifting global climate.  He defines the globalist age of tourism as having two main headings: “the economization of culture” and “the indigenization of modernity.”  These two headings return throughout the text as foundational issues that impact the ways in which writers’ depict travel.  In a turbulent time of travel since 9/11, Huggan observes the changes in attitudes and paranoia of travelers, not only due to ethnic and identity issues, but also due to global social and economic instability.  Huggan’s observation of the effects of this climate on travel writing highlights the importance of hyper-awareness on the part of the travel writer as to the realities of globalization.  He differentiates between the conscientious writer and the contentious writer, and he addresses the sociological connotations of writing on the subject of travel especially in light of new dangers of tourism.  This text is seminal in that it links travel writing to tourism, and challenges the attitudes of travel writing critics that there can be no distinction in the current age. 

This text not only provides actual cultural examinations of travel writing, but also its real-world application.  The analysis of travel blogs would also necessitate such awareness of the global climate if I am to locate and identify the social implications of their rhetoric.  Huggan does not spend the majority of his book discussing travel writing; in fact, he weaves travel writing throughout his discussion of tourism and globalization.  However, his criticism of what makes effective travel writing in this modern age will provide very helpful measurement of the composition of the blogs I am investigating.  All in all, this book has given me broader perspective as to the issues of modernity in terms of travel and writing about it.

Deconstructing travel:cultural perspectives on tourism

Berger, A. Asa. (2004). Deconstructing travel:cultural perspectives on tourism. Walnut Creek: Altamira Press.

Arthur Asa Berger is Professor Emeritus of Broadcast and Electronic Communication Arts at San Francisco State University (although he technically ended his teaching career in 2003). He has published more than 100 articles, numerous book reviews, and more than 60 books.  His text, Deconstructing Travel, is essentially a collection of commentary on the cultural effects of the tourist industry that includes discussion of the many facets of travel, including an in-depth analysis of travel writing as what he considers “an art form.”  The book offers reasons as to motivations for traveling, and it locates travel and tourism through social, cultural, psychological, and economic lenses as critique. Berger’s stroll through the historical molds for journey-making – such as classical text references to expeditions in mythology, history, and literatures – stretches through the ages to reach our modern captivation with travel and the implications that such pursuits present for everyday people.  Actually a book about the tourism industry at the end of the day, Berger’s documentation of the impacts and implications of travel advertising and travel writing offer a curiously critical view of these crafts.

Though the prose is lively and engaging, Berger’s work threads together the literal experience of travel with the sociological and psychological implications of being a “traveler.”  His chapter on travel writing offers a helpful glance as to the makings of effective travel writing, in other words, how to compose the adventure in lively prose (somewhere between personal narrative and a choose-your-own-adventure genre).  Berger’s insights may not fully explain the methods best employed in “good” travel writing, but his enthusiasm for the craft raises an intriguing question in terms of my research.  His writing may prove an exemplar of the implied masculine freedom in the realm of travel, as he himself does not seem to perceive the nature of the rhetoric he employs.

Critical theory and practice: A coursebook

Green, K., LeBihan J.  Critical theory and practice: A coursebook. London: Routledge. 1996

Green and LeBihan, both professors of literary studies, team up in this book to create a textual introduction to utilizing critical theory in the English classroom.  This book is compiled from their experiences teaching courses to undergraduate English majors for application to literary criticism, but the work actually addresses the use of the theory to create a method of practical application.  Critical Theory and Practice addresses the complications of the the growing lens of critical theory, but it does so with an awareness of the issues that arise because of it, and thus covers possible solutions. The duo explicates and breaks down the disagreements pertinent to literary theory, providing readers insight into selected literary texts and guiding them with adapted classroom experience and a prescriptive line of questioning.  The book is broken down into issues deemed important in the contemporary age: Language, Literature, History, Subjectivity, Feminism, Gender and Cultural Identity. This book acts to provoke engagement with the minds of readers, and to instigate genuine lines of questioning to open thought rather than promise answers.

Critical Theory and Practice does an excellent job of setting up a question-answer scenario for literary analysis that can readily apply to multiple genres. Its hybrid construction of observational methods and analysis of theoretical lenses makes for an ideal application to the review of travel writing and the implications of such composition.  Because the text is set up with a working glossary along with annotations, it gives a set of records for further investigation as to the complexity of analyzing certain textual genres, which can be extended to match the texts collected here for my research purposes.  Since I am hoping to identify the language employed within travel writing, especially in its latest most accessible form, I find the discoveries of this text as key insight.  Although this text does not cover digital writing as a medium, I will have to consider the technological and accessibility factors that may affect the use of critical theory.  Thankfully, the authors cover an expansive set of literary analysis terms: language, culture, literature, history, psychology, sociology, reading and writing, gender, difference, power and politics.  All of these terms combine to create the necessary lens through which to view the rhetoric of travel blogs.

Tourists with typewriters: critical reflections on contemporary travel writing

Holland, P., Huggan, G. (1998). Tourists with typewriters: critical reflections on contemporary travel writing. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

Huggan and Holland’s book illustrates the climate of contemporary travel writing through a series of chapters through the lens of critical theory.  Each chapter engages a specific cultural theory or sociological factor (postcolonial theory, ethnic zones, gender differences, postmodernism, etc.) in order to analyze the effectiveness of individual travel writers’ works.  This book provides criticism of travel writing’s unacknowledged ethnocentrism while working to recognize the genre as true literary form, and it does so with a look at the range between what has been considered the best and worst travel writing.  In the Preface of the book, the authors make this claim: “Travel writing calls out, then, for a sustained critical analysis: one that looks at travel writers as retailers of mostly white,  male, middle-class heterosexual myths and prejudices, and at their readers as eager consumers of exotic – culturally “othered” --  goods” (viii).  Huggan and Holland make the point that the best travel writing  can cross boundaries and create a neutral humanism anyone can enjoy, while the worst can be exploitative and demarcate the lines between socioeconomic groups.  This intriguing work explores a broad range of travel narratives written in English after the Second World War, focusing mainly on writers such as Jan Morris, Peter Matthiessen, V. S. Naipaul, Barry Lopez, Mary Morris, Paul Theroux, Peter Mayle, and the late Bruce Chatwin.  


Although a cross-curricular study, this book examines the same rhetorical issues that I predict also affect travel blogging.  Since it focuses on the spectrum of writing, from best to worst, it gives an effective scope for analysis of even more contemporary travel writing. This text gives an exemplar of the literary analysis techniques I will employ to begin my study of travel blogs, although there will be factors to consider when comparing texts.  Huggan and Holland suggest that “travel writing deserves to develop as a genre” because of its potential for global appeal, and I tend to agree; however, I agree with the authors that such a genre only has a place if we are conscientious of the side effects and implications of such writing.  Taking into consideration the factors they engage as contentious will provide very helpful insight into travel blogs.

The Cambridge companion to travel writing

Hulme, P. (2002). The Cambridge companion to travel writing. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press.

Probably the broadest survey of travel writing published, The Cambridge Companion anthologizes fourteen essays of scholars’ critiques of English travel writing from 1500 to the present.   Among these essays, there are overviews of specific time periods’ works, particular regional case-studies, and analyses of theoretical and cultural implications.  Cambridge combines a cross-curricular study (literary studies, cultural studies, history, etc) to paint the extent to which travel writing has been a familiar genre in English since the Renaissance (and arguably earlier).

      As an anthology of historical travel writing in English, this book provides only a particular perspective to apply to my research.  However, the final three essays pertaining to critical and cultural theory and the implications of travel writing’s overall composition will serve as additional insight.  The text includes experiences of writers traveling to every continent except Antarctica, so it paints a broad enough picture to compare with the travels of contemporary travel bloggers.  It manages to locate writers of the 20^th century, however, it fails to reach far enough to consider digital implications on travel writing.  The book does provide a very useful list for further reading, man of which may or may not be applicable to my research.

Curiosity and the aesthetics of travel writing, 1770-1840: from an antique land

Leask, N. (2002). Curiosity and the aesthetics of travel writing, 1770-1840: from an antique land. New York: Oxford University Press.

Leask’s book compiles a series of chapters dedicated to analyzing the literary “romanticism” of travel writing (and he even opens his text with a quote from Shelley’s “Ozymandias” – “I met a traveler from an antique land”). This highly literary survey ties together several narratives, all the while referencing postcolonial and cultural theories in order to shed light on their impact on travel writing.  The stories, depicted by the writing of English men and women travelers, illustrate travels to, as Shelley coined, “antique lands,” such as Egypt, India, South and Central America.  The purpose of the text seems to romanticize travel writing as a genre of unrealized potential: Leask locates implications of postcoloniality, however, he does not venture to denigrate the writing or the writers themselves.   What this book, in fact, does is provide valuable perspective for contemporary readers as to the attitudes of travelers (of the English upper-middle class) in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. This text self-consciously celebrates lost texts in order to create conversation about its literary value, however, its biases do little but reinforce a critical study into their composition.

This text does not cover contemporary travel writing, however, the bias present in its overall composition may provide an exemplar of the issues in categorizing travel writing as a genre.  Just as Huggan and Holland posed the question of the implied biases of travel writers themselves, Leask demonstrates favoritism for this type of elitism, which, in turn, may provide criteria for comparison between travel writing critics.  This text can provide some text examples of criticism that may prove what travel writing is, but also what it isn’t.  As for applying this text to travel blog analysis, there seems to be a common thread among several writers (which is evident from the collection of writings in this book) – the notion that they are each part of a sort of “club” for travelers, and that they have a gifted perspective on the subject. 

Rhetoric and wonder in English travel writing, 1560-1613

Sell, J. P. A. (2006). Rhetoric and wonder in English travel writing, 1560-1613. Aldershot, England: Ashgate.

Jonathan P.A. Sell issue a challenging critical study of travel writing by identifying within it the themes of fantasy and wonder, marvels and monsters, and the lingering rhetoric of empire.  His analysis defines “wonder” as the beginning of philosophy and discourse,” and also as “the heart of the aesthetic experience” (5).   In other words, by locating the human trait of curiosity in pursuits of knowledge, he sees that the impetus to journal daily experience as an inspired response.  However, Sell argues that “because readers were unable to assent to anything that did not coincide with the current belief system, it was the task of the writer to make the new acceptable and the unfamiliar familiar by utilizing.”  His text, five chapters broken into five stages of what he considers “the rhetoric of wonder,” successfully paints a critical overview of the rhetorical strategies of travelers in the Renaissance. It is clear that Sell means to complement, and sometimes counter, recent criticism of early modern travel literature, and he does so by concentrating on the rhetorical constructs employed.  He also keenly notes the importance of being familiar with the workings of rhetoric and its theoretical premises, as this working knowledge provides clarity as to the overall experience of reading travel narratives.

Though Sell does not venture into the contemporary setting, his examination of rhetoric is exactly the kind of criticism that is needed for the analysis of travel blog writing.  Since much of the writing of contemporary travelers seems to render a sort of spectacular effect, it is noteworthy that I may cite Sell’s terminologies regarding “wonder” to highlight the possibilities that this exists in the digital genre as well.  His work’s focus on ethos and elocution provide a connection to Aristotelian rhetoric, thus providing further tools for examining travel writing’s implications.

Possible Additional Texts and Abstracts

Wodak, R. “The Politics of Exclusion: The Haiderisation of Europe”. Humanities, Social Sciences and Law. 2010, 5, 355-373

In many European countries, the extreme right have refined their electoral programs under the rubric of nationalist-populist slogans and have adopted more subtle (i. e. coded) forms of racism. The move away from overt neo-fascist discourse has in fact allowed these parties to expand their electoral support as populist nationalist parties (Rydgren 2005; Delanty/O'Mahony 2002; Wodak/Pelinka 2002; Pelinka/Wodak 2002). In several European countries, such parties form part of the government (or have formed part), like in Austria, Denmark or Italy; in other countries, such parties have recently succeeded (in the elections to the European Parliament, June 2009) to collect more votes (like in the United Kingdom or Hungary). The new coded rhetoric has paradoxically led to an increase in racist and anti-Semitic discourse, not to its decline, since racism now often takes more pervasive, diffuse forms, even to the point of being expressed as the denial of racism (Van Dijk 1989). There is considerable evidence of a normalization of “othering” (racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism) in political discourse, and there is much to indicate that this is also occurring at all levels of society, ranging from the media, political parties, and institutions to everyday life.

Wodak, R.  “Populist discourses : The rhetoric of exclusion in written genres.”  Journal of Research and Problem Solving, 4 (2010). pp. 133-148

Populist rhetoric is not restricted to rightwing or leftwing political parties. Populist rhetoric is characterized through multiple linguistic strategies which allow the persuasive inclusion of many, also contradictory electorates, and the exclusion of "others". This paper examines written genres from the media and coalition agreements in Austria, since the so-called "Wende" in the year 2000 when a new coalition gevernment was decided upon between the People’s Party and the rightwing populist party, the Freedom Party. Through the detailed linguistic analysis of texts, some (linguistic) explanations for the success of rightwing populist parties in the European Union member states will be offered.

Javed Majeed. (2007) Autobiography, Travel and Postnational Identity: Gandhi, Nehru and Iqbal. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan.

Autobiography, Travel and Postnational Identity is exemplary both in its placing of autobiographical texts within a historical and literary context, and in its ability to make connections between that context and larger issues of concern in postcolonial, travel, and auto/biography studies. Javed Majeed's new book is an important intervention in contemporary auto/ biography studies. It is centrally concerned with the autobiographical writings of three figures, all published before the independence of India and Pakistan in 1947. Mohandas K. Gandhi's and Jawaharlal Nehru's autobiographies are well known internationally, but Majeed supplements them with less well-known autobiographical writings by the same authors: Gandhi's Satyagraha in South Africa and, stretching generic conventions somewhat, Nehru's voluminous The Discovery of India. In addition, the author compares these texts to the Persian poem Jävïd Näma by Muhammad Iqbal, the leader of the All India Muslim League who was one of the earliest proponents of a separate state for Muslims in South Asia. All three authors, Majeed argues, use autobiography as a means of production of "projects of selfhood" that are intimately bound up with the politics of nationalism (3). In contrast to many autobiographies produced in the subcontinent at this time, however, Gandhi's, Nehru's, and Iqbal's texts enact a "postnational" politics, frequently resisting homogenizing or fixed notions of nationhood.

Such criticisms, however, do not detract from the very considerable merits of the book. Majeed's textual readings are always carefully argued, and frequently genuinely insightful. Autobiography, Travel and Postnational Identity is exemplary both in its placing of autobiographical texts within a historical and literary context, and in its ability to make connections between that context and larger issues of concern in postcolonial, travel, and auto/biography studies.

Enloe.. “Bananas, Beaches and Bases: Making Feminist Sense of international Politics.”Women & Politics.  12, (1992) p. 75 

Enloe explores women's roles in tourism industries, from early female travelers to modem hotel chambermaids and sex tourism workers. The author not only makes connections between women's roles in transnational enterprises as consumers and as producers, for example, of clothing, but also exposes the complexities introduced by women's class and family situations, and notes in passing the futility of attempting to be politically correct consumers within the given international political system. With regard to the military -- a subject on which she has written extensively -- Enloe traces the web of women's interactions with military bases, as soldiers, wives, workers, and`locals' who provide a wide range of services. She presents considerable new material on diplomatic wives, their isolation, and their difficulty in forming organizations to address their concerns. Domestic workers are another isolated group, but Enloe makes it clear that often their decision to leave their native land to work abroad is a part of international politics, not merely personal choice. Finally, a gendered history of the banana -- Carmen Miranda is pictured on the book's cover -- traces women's involvement in the international production, marketing, and consumption of this now popular fruit.

In arguing that international processes depend on particular configurations of masculinity and femininity, Enloe has produced an important work. However, this book is so wide ranging that it often forgoes providing a complex analysis of its topics; Enloe makes sweeping and often simplistic generalizations, such as "international tourism needs patriarchy to survive (p.41)." Yet Enloe depicts a tourism industry that responds to changing cultural and social norms; for example, the tourist industry incorporates the idea, launched by women, of the white female adventurer. Enloe wants to demonstrate the importance of gender in tourism; however, this reader was more struck by the way her book illustrates tourism's dependency on racism for its survival. In addition, many of Enloe's linkages, especially between female sexuality and the control of predominantly male populations, while intuitively comprehensible, are poorly supported by evidence. The presence of high levels of prostitution around US military bases, for example in the Philippines, seems at least equally tied to issues of international economics as it is to providing security for military bases. Why, I wonder, is there a collapse (in the host country) of previously defining notions about male / female domestic and sexual relations? Why are the patriarchal values that keep women at home or considering the needs of their compañeros in Afghanistan and Mexico suddenly demolished in the Philippines? Attention to the pressure that international economics places on the gendering of domestic relations in countries that maintain US military bases would have nuanced Enloe's argument.