Travel and Transformation:

Lean, G., Staiff, R. and Waterton, E. (eds) (2014) and Aldershot: Ashgate, (hbk). ISBN: 9781409467632, 252 pagesWhilst the notion of transformation through travel is manifest since the very first works of Western literature and broadly accepted within tourism studies, it remains a slippery term as divergent pictures emerge in accounts of movement that are often forced, where movement is restricted or even where there is apparent stillness. In the book Travel and edited by three University of Western Sydney scholars; various perspectives on travel and transformation are brought together through the contributions of geographers, sociologists, cultural researchers, anthropologists, performance researchers, literary scholars and heritage researchers. They hope to more broadly address transformation beyond tourism, which is seen as only one small component of the travel spectrum.There is a double preclude to the book with Janice Baker in Flensed writing a short travel narrative that seeks to show how travel can rupture the emotional expectations that keep us circling in the past (p.9). In a second introduction, the editors set out the premise of the book. They describe that in history, individuals and collective movements both affected spaces, places, landscapes and ecosystems, but also these places acted upon individuals, collectives, minds, bodies, life-forms and objects(p.11). Rather than overly delve too deeply into the philosophical under pinning of transformation, its triggers or why it is important; the editors basically argue that anyone can be transformed by corporeal travel.The book is split into four parts, each containing between two and four chapters. Anderson and Erskine (chapter 2) in the first part, Speculation, discuss the self-transformation of so called 'lifestyle travellers. Ninnis (chapter 3) in Travel as Critique and Transgression in Michel Foucault and Colin Thubron notes the potentially illusory nature of transformation through travel. Influenced by a writer and thinker, the author notes how certain forms of travel may offer limited transformation. Finally, Allon and Koleth (Chapter 4) in Doing Good: Transforming the Self by Transforming the World examine self-transformation through 'volunteer travel; and describe framework for business to harness (and exploit) the process.Part two of the book, Transformation, Representation, Story, starts with Saddos and Saddhus: Transcendence as Breakdown in Geoff Dyer's Jeff in Venice/Death in Varanasi by Leggett (Chapter 5); who seek to explore through the pilgrimage concept, the story of two 40-ish men seeking love and existential meaning. In chapter 6, Sazzad explores the poetry of the exiled Palestinian, Mahmoud Darwish. The final contribution by Walsh (Chapter 7) is developed as part of a documentary film, with a focus on how the refugee, the developer and the migrant moves through a Johannesburg neighbourhood.Part 3, in Motion, describes long-distance walking as secular pilgrimage (chapter 8 by Dawney). In a thoughtful chapter, the author focuses on some of Foucault's writings on technologies of the self in order to think about transformative practices. In chapter 9, Memories of Forced Transformation through in 1948, Mannik returns to rites of passage and Foucault's heterotopia when exploring the forced transformation of a group of Estonian refugees as they crossed the Atlantic from Sweden to Canada. In Chapter 10, Young Backpackers and the Rite of Passage of Travel: Examining the Transformative Effects of Liminality Matthews also uses rites of passage, which is often routinely applied to the backpacking experience. …

Récupéré en direct depuis OpenAlex et désinversé. Les résumés ne sont pas conservés dans cette base de données : les index inversés représentent 8,6 Go des 9,3 Go de texte de la base, et le serveur dispose de 13 Go libres.