Contours of Cultures: Vikram Seth’s Vision in From Heaven Lake

Abstract

A detailed study of the historical genealogy of today’s travel writing takes one straight into the combined histories of literature on the one hand and society on the other. Importantly, many travellers wontedly follow the path of travellers from previous times, so there is a strong sense of this kind of writing presenting itself as part of continuity. The current fascination with the Oriental regions, a fascination that has come to the fore in the past decade, provides one example of how travel writers are also intrinsically writing about somewhere else. It is possible to learn how cultures construct their image of other cultures, how the image changes or remains constant through time.

Travel writing is more than a geographical account, local colour, spirit of place, or depiction of manners and morals, and is actually a form of a memoir or an autobiography. The radically new thing is the perception that travel books map out the territories of the mind, define contours of nations and communities, and determine forms of cultural and political representations. They mediate across disciplinary boundaries and knowledge systems. So when Travel writing is properly handled, it illuminates the understanding of society and culture.