21. Isabella Bird, Selected Works (1856–1899)
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Stephen Clark
Abstract
Isabella Bird was famously described in one of her obituaries as “The Invalid at Home, Samson Abroad.” Her illness appears to epitomize the infantilizing of women by the constraints of Victorian domestic ideology, and the potential liberation offered by the simple act of travelling. The counter-position has been argued that her viewpoint advances an Evangelical and Free-Trade agenda deeply complicit with imperial expansion. This essay will emphasize the dependence of the female traveller on newly-established global infrastructure, but will also resist the assumption that Bird as a Victorian woman was inevitably repressed, both socially and sexually, by examining the motif of voyage into the unknown interior, with specific reference to representation of the travelling female body in her writing on Hawaii.
Abstract
Isabella Bird was famously described in one of her obituaries as “The Invalid at Home, Samson Abroad.” Her illness appears to epitomize the infantilizing of women by the constraints of Victorian domestic ideology, and the potential liberation offered by the simple act of travelling. The counter-position has been argued that her viewpoint advances an Evangelical and Free-Trade agenda deeply complicit with imperial expansion. This essay will emphasize the dependence of the female traveller on newly-established global infrastructure, but will also resist the assumption that Bird as a Victorian woman was inevitably repressed, both socially and sexually, by examining the motif of voyage into the unknown interior, with specific reference to representation of the travelling female body in her writing on Hawaii.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Editors’ Preface V
- Contents VII
- 0. Introduction 1
-
Part I: Systematic Questions
- 1. Periods of Travel Writing 11
- 2. Discourses of Travel Writing 31
- 3. Gender 55
- 4. Travel Writing and Translation 79
- 5. Practices and Purposes 95
- 6. Intertextual Travel Writing 113
- 7. The Market for Travel Writing 125
-
Part II: Close Readings
- 8. Walter Ralegh, The Discoverie of the Large, Rich, and Bewtiful Empyre of Guiana (1596) 145
- 9. Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe (1719) and Tour Thro’ The Whole Island of Great Britain (1724–1727) 161
- 10. Samuel Johnson, A Voyage to Abyssinia (1735) 181
- 11. Thomas Pennant, Selected Works (1754–1804) 199
- 12. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, The Turkish Embassy Letters (1763) 213
- 13. James Boswell, Journals and Letters from his Grand Tour (1764–1765) 231
- 14. James Cook and George Forster, Journals and Travel Reports from Their “Voyage Round the World” (1777) 247
- 15. Mary Wollstonecraft, Letters Written during a Short Residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark (1796) 267
- 16. Mariana Starke, Letters from Italy (1800) 297
- 17. Maria Graham, Travel Writing on India, Italy, Brazil, and Chile (1812–1824) 313
- 18. Lord Byron, Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage (1812–1818) 335
- 19. Anna Jameson, Selected Works (1826–1859) 357
- 20. Charles Darwin, The Voyage of the Beagle (1839) 373
- 21. Isabella Bird, Selected Works (1856–1899) 397
- 22. Mary Kingsley, Travels in West Africa (1897) and West African Studies (1899) 411
- 23. Vita Sackville-West, Selected Works (1926, 1928) 433
- 24. Robert Byron, The Road to Oxiana (1937) 449
- 25. Freya Stark, Selected Works (1938–1988) 467
- 26. W. H. Auden, Journey to a War (1939) 485
- 27. V. S. Naipaul, Selected Works (1962–1998) 501
- 28. Dervla Murphy, Selected Works (1965–2015) 515
- 29. William Dalrymple, Selected Works (1989–1997) 535
- 30. Nicholas Crane, Two Degrees West (1999) and Great British Journeys (2007) 555
- 31. Robert Macfarlane, The Wild Places (2007) 575
- Index of Names and Works 595
- Index of Subjects and Places 609
- List of Contributors 617
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Editors’ Preface V
- Contents VII
- 0. Introduction 1
-
Part I: Systematic Questions
- 1. Periods of Travel Writing 11
- 2. Discourses of Travel Writing 31
- 3. Gender 55
- 4. Travel Writing and Translation 79
- 5. Practices and Purposes 95
- 6. Intertextual Travel Writing 113
- 7. The Market for Travel Writing 125
-
Part II: Close Readings
- 8. Walter Ralegh, The Discoverie of the Large, Rich, and Bewtiful Empyre of Guiana (1596) 145
- 9. Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe (1719) and Tour Thro’ The Whole Island of Great Britain (1724–1727) 161
- 10. Samuel Johnson, A Voyage to Abyssinia (1735) 181
- 11. Thomas Pennant, Selected Works (1754–1804) 199
- 12. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, The Turkish Embassy Letters (1763) 213
- 13. James Boswell, Journals and Letters from his Grand Tour (1764–1765) 231
- 14. James Cook and George Forster, Journals and Travel Reports from Their “Voyage Round the World” (1777) 247
- 15. Mary Wollstonecraft, Letters Written during a Short Residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark (1796) 267
- 16. Mariana Starke, Letters from Italy (1800) 297
- 17. Maria Graham, Travel Writing on India, Italy, Brazil, and Chile (1812–1824) 313
- 18. Lord Byron, Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage (1812–1818) 335
- 19. Anna Jameson, Selected Works (1826–1859) 357
- 20. Charles Darwin, The Voyage of the Beagle (1839) 373
- 21. Isabella Bird, Selected Works (1856–1899) 397
- 22. Mary Kingsley, Travels in West Africa (1897) and West African Studies (1899) 411
- 23. Vita Sackville-West, Selected Works (1926, 1928) 433
- 24. Robert Byron, The Road to Oxiana (1937) 449
- 25. Freya Stark, Selected Works (1938–1988) 467
- 26. W. H. Auden, Journey to a War (1939) 485
- 27. V. S. Naipaul, Selected Works (1962–1998) 501
- 28. Dervla Murphy, Selected Works (1965–2015) 515
- 29. William Dalrymple, Selected Works (1989–1997) 535
- 30. Nicholas Crane, Two Degrees West (1999) and Great British Journeys (2007) 555
- 31. Robert Macfarlane, The Wild Places (2007) 575
- Index of Names and Works 595
- Index of Subjects and Places 609
- List of Contributors 617