E-Thesis 555 views 633 downloads
Wales in Continental Guidebooks (1850-2013): A Country on the Imaginative Periphery / Anna-Lou Dijkstra
Swansea University Author: Anna-Lou Dijkstra
-
PDF | E-Thesis – open access
Download (3.98MB)
DOI (Published version): 10.23889/SUthesis.39298
Abstract
This thesis examines the representations of Wales in German-, French- and Dutch-language travel guidebooks published between 1850 and 2013. The analysis focuses on the conceptualisation of the country in these texts within the framework of ‘imaginative peripheries’. This framework is mainly based on...
| Published: |
2017
|
|---|---|
| Institution: | Swansea University |
| Degree level: | Doctoral |
| Degree name: | Ph.D |
| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa39298 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| Abstract: |
This thesis examines the representations of Wales in German-, French- and Dutch-language travel guidebooks published between 1850 and 2013. The analysis focuses on the conceptualisation of the country in these texts within the framework of ‘imaginative peripheries’. This framework is mainly based on the work of Edward Said and his model of ‘imaginative geographies’, which examines the perception of spaces through texts and discourses. In the thesis it is asserted that guidebooks have the power to significantly influence tourists’ views of a destination, thus affecting the socio-spatial construction of the area in question. The thesis scrutinises how Wales is conceptualised as a cultural, linguistic, ethnographic, historical, geographical and political entity and how these representations influence the country’s spatial realisation in the texts. In conclusion it is argued that during the course of the centuries under examination, Wales has been increasingly recognised as a distinct entity, but has simultaneously been moved to the periphery on a textual and conceptual level. Finally, these shifts not only provide insights into the way Wales is perceived in overseas travel guidebooks, but also reflect broader discourses concerning the changing balance of power in our globalising world. |
|---|---|
| Keywords: |
Wales, language travel guidebooks, imaginative peripheries, imagined geographies |
| College: |
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences |