Author: Ellen Avery
Avery, Ellen, 2022 Travel memoirs: presenting difference or perpetuating sameness? A reflexive, comparative, case study exploring phenomenology of place and representation of Self, Other, sameness, and difference, as documented by Australian and French autobiographical authors; interpreted by an Australian/American traveller, reader, and learner of French., Flinders University, College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
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Travel memoirs: presenting difference or perpetuating sameness? My research project is a thematic, reflexive, comparative, phenomenological case study of two autobiographical travel memoir texts; 'La grenouille dans le billabong' by Marie-Paule Leroux (French), and 'Almost French' by Sarah Turnbull (Australian), chosen because they mirror each other in terms of cultural situation and authorship. My thesis explores alterity and the role of phenomenology of place in the reconfiguration of identity for travellers who move to a country other than their own. I investigate the relevance of travel writing and the representation of Self, Other, sameness, and difference, as documented by Australian and French authors. The research analyses themes extracted from the authors’ written documentations of lived experience, determining that there are elements of each culture that result in challenging experiences in the new country. The texts indicate that the transformative power of phenomenology of place conspires to make each moment what it is: the sum of place, people, language, weather, architecture, history. These phenomenological lived experiences are partially shaped by the authors' culture of origin. As each individual is confronted by alterity, I believe identity is necessarily transformed and adapted, entailing personal losses and gains as one engages with otherness. Retrospectively, the authors emplace their encounters of Self and Other and curate their memorial experiences based on interpretation; involving the complex interplay of seeking sameness and highlighting differences in their efforts to understand and relate to their surroundings. Ultimately, I suggest that phenomenology of place invites confrontation with alterity as individuals seek sameness and comparison to identify elements of difference in shared, human, lived experience and are changed as a result, transforming notions of Self and Other.
Keywords: alterity, Australia, autobiography, case study, culture, difference, France, French, identity, language, language studies, linguistics, lived experience, memoirs, memories, methodology, other, otherness, phenomenological, phenomenology, place, reflexivity, Ricœur, sameness, self, thematic analysis, transformation, travel, travel memoirs, travel writing, Van Manen
Subject: Linguistics thesis
Thesis type: Masters
Completed: 2022
School: College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
Supervisor: Professor Eric Bouvet