| dc.description.abstract | Travel has always been part of the developmental process of human history.
When human beings began to settle down in particular geographical spaces, the
nature and purpose of travels started to shift from a survival strategy to those based
on other requirements. While both men and women of primitive ages undertook on
long journeys together, at some point of time in history it became a male venture and
the travel experiences recorded were mostly from the male perspective. While this
study delves deep into the socio- cultural and theoretical aspects of travels and travel
writings, it also enquires into the reasons behind the dearth of women’s travel and
travel narratives. In addition, this study seeks to establish that women too possess a
travel history of their own. Considering the fact that travel writing in one way or the
other defines the self of the travelling person, the self- encounters that Malayali
women make in their narratives of travel actually become a redefinition of their
selves as well.
This study focuses on the travel narratives that have been published from
1930s to 2022 by a select group of Malayali women. With the help of travel theories
and various other sociocultural and literary theories this study attempts to find
answers to questions regarding how certain factors like gender, caste, religion,
sociocultural and political affiliations by and large formulate Malayali women’s
travels and the subsequent narratives. This research is done mainly through the
method of textual analysis.
This thesis is divided into six chapters and focusses on select themes like
ecology, religion, marginality, caste, narration, gender and sexuality. First chapter is
the “Introduction” of the thesis. This chapter tries to ground the idea of travel andtravel writing within the larger context of mobility with the help of relevant
sociocultural, literary and travel theories. Focusing on select travel narratives the
second chapter titled “Travel and Ecology: Questions on Gender and Narration”
analyses how Malayali women make meaningful critical interventions in systems
which are blind towards ecological degradation. The third chapter is titled as
“Pilgrim Travels: Rendezvous with Gods, Spaces and Memories”. Problematising
activities like worship and pilgrimage the chapter critically analyses travels which
are based on one’s religious and ideological beliefs. This chapter also analyses
travels and the subsequent narratives which reflect upon the gratification of one’s
innate desires connected with one’s interests, fears and fascinations. The fourth
chapter titled as “Marginal Travels: Perspectives on Caste, Gender and Narration”
examines marginality with regard to caste, religion and gender experienced by
Malayali women in their travels. The Concluding chapter sums up the findings of
the previous chapters. The final chapter “Recommendations” throws light into future
studies which are to be done on the topic. | en_US |
