Overview

Broadly this book is about the Arabian desert as the locus of exploration by a long tradition of British travellers that includes T. E. Lawrence and Wilfred Thesiger; more specifically, it is about those who, since 1950, have followed in their literary footsteps. In analysing modern works covering a land greater than the sum of its geographical parts, the discussion identifies outmoded tropes that continue to impinge upon the perception of the Middle East today while recognising that the laboured binaries of “East and West”, “desert and sown”, “noble and savage” have outrun their course. Where, however, only a barren legacy of latent Orientalism may have been expected, the author finds instead a rich seam of writing that exhibits diversity of purpose and insight contributing to contemporary discussions on travel and tourism, intercultural representation, and environmental awareness. By addressing a lack of scholarly attention towards recent additions to the genre, this study illustrates for the benefit of students of travel literature, or indeed anyone interested in “Arabia”, how desert writing, under the emerging configurations of globalisation, postcolonialism, and ecocriticism, acts as a microcosm of the kinds of ethical and emotional dilemmas confronting today’s travel writers in the world’s most extreme regions.

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9781032399263

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Reviews

"""An astute, wide-ranging analysis of the directions British travel writing on Arabia have taken since Thesiger and the 1950s. Jenny Walker combines practical knowledge of the Arabian desert with sensitive readings of how writing about it has been formed by postmodern trends and twenty-first century contexts. This book is more than an update it is an invaluable aid to our understanding of the desert writing genre."" Geoffrey Nash, author of, From Empire to Orient, Travellers to the Middle East"

""An astute, wide-ranging analysis of the directions British travel writing on Arabia have taken since Thesiger and the 1950s. Jenny Walker combines practical knowledge of the Arabian desert with sensitive readings of how writing about it has been formed by postmodern trends and twenty-first century contexts. This book is more than an update it is an invaluable aid to our understanding of the desert writing genre."" Geoffrey Nash, author of, From Empire to Orient, Travellers to the Middle East

Author Information

Jenny Walker is Consultant to the CEO of Oman’s national accreditation agency. Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and Member of the British Guild of Travel Writers, she has written for Lonely Planet for 20 years in 40 guidebooks, curated a book of Silk Road drawings, and coauthored, with husband Sam Owen, an off-road guide to Oman.

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