The other day in class, Luis mentioned that there is a lack
of women and minority travel writers chronicling their experiences
transAmerica. This struck a chord with me, and it made me question what is
means that white men are primarily the only ones in search of America. They
seem to not only be in possession of this genre, but also hold authorship over
the act of traditional east to west (or east to west and back east) travel that
so many find necessary to discovering the heart of this country. I even looked
up names for “American travel writers,” and the list with which Wikipedia
presented me reflects the dominance of male, Anglo names in this American
tradition (See for yourself: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:American_travel_writers).
So why are women and minorities not writing American
travelogues? Why, when in the twenty-first century our America is more
multicultural than ever and art tends to embrace this diversity, do white
American men continue to hold power in the travel genre?
Provided the underrepresentation of women and minorities in
travel writing, it seems that America—as a nation to be traversed and explored—is
a space occupied by Anglo-American males. However, if you consider America not solely
as an exclusive nation, but a force within globalization, Anglo-American men
find their voices in the minority and writers from marginalized cultures come
into prominence. Writing about America in the era of globalization seems as
outdated as the men who have participated in this tradition, perhaps thus
inspiring female and minority writers to enter into a genre relevant to the
interconnectedness of the twenty-first century. To this day white men remain in
possession of the American construct; at its core, it remains white man’s land.
It makes sense, then, that women and minority writers tap into the global
reserve that welcomes their voices and publish within a market open to their
cultural distinctions.
I know this argument faces a lot of opposition, particularly
in its claim that globalization is marked by multiculturalism (i.e. critics who
say that globalization is Americanization). However, I think there is something
to be said for the differences in people who write travel narratives about
America and those write travel narratives within a globalized world. I do
recognize that my knowledge in this field is limited, but it certainly brought
up questions I find worthy of consideration.
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