The Role of the Real: Authenticity in Fictional Travel Literature and the Contemporary Modus Operandi

Abstract

This thesis explores how fictional travel writing produces and conveys authenticity and the inherent capabilities of authenticity in social and cultural critique. The focus pertains to contemporary travel writing, ensuring a prevalent understanding of current tendencies and innovations. Qualitative Content Analysis and traditional textual analysis are employed to confirm the specific modes of authenticity, as shown in the three novels The White Mary (2008), Heroes of the Frontier (2016) and Memorial (2020). The analysis reveals that authenticity is conveyed following the specific narrative of the novels. This was found to be present in two separate entities of authenticity. Firstly, the thesis finds that authenticity can be presented as a literary device in which the author can convey and write authentic perspectives to conduct a plausible narrative. Secondly, the thesis finds that the novels also represent an external authenticity related to contextual elements, such as authorship, lingering zeitgeist, and culture. To entrench the analysis in a contemporary perspective, the thesis aligns the functions of authenticity with those of New Sincerity, proposing an overlap of concepts. This creates an opportunity to study the current state of the genre and the future direction of literary travel writing. The accumulated findings of the analysis showcase that the genre has moved away from literary conventions placed within postmodernity, instead having moved towards a new literary modus operandi. This means that the state of the genre has shifted its general tendencies of conduct. The proposed interpretative mode interplays with the defined structures of New Sincerity. This means that the novels analysed showcase a disposition in which their narratives tend to engage with interpersonal propositions between the author and the readership. Furthermore, the narratives contain a combination of experimental structures and well-established genre tropes. The concord relegates a new function in fictional travel writing, related to New Sincerity. The research conducted in this thesis contributes to understanding the contemporary state of fictional travel writing and the integral role of authenticity. By illuminating the understanding of authenticity in fictional travel writing, the thesis lays the groundwork for further research into the intrinsic relationship between authenticity and Cultural Critique.

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A master thesis from Aalborg University

The Role of the Real: Authenticity in Fictional Travel Literature and the Contemporary Modus Operandi