The unit maps the roots and routes of English-language travel in Italy, from the aristocratic travel of the English Renaissance, to the Grand Tourists of the twentieth century, to the rise of middle-class tourism and the travel genre in the nineteenth century, to the mass tourism and cyber travel of today. In an eclectic range of sources, including travel books, essays and fiction, a central focus will be on contemporary or near-contemporary cultural responses to Italy (including those articulated in guidebooks), and also how the country is 'packaged' for the consumption of foreign travelers in the discourses of the tourism industry. -- Course Website
Instructor: Professor Robin Gerster
Prerequisites: First year Literary Studies or Communications sequence or other first year sequence as approved by co-ordinator.