Beyond Chatwin: Patagonia in Contemporary Latin American Travel Literature

Dr. Jenny Haase (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin/ Stanford University):

Beyond Chatwin. Patagonia in Contemporary Latin American Travel Literature

Patagonia has fascinated travelers and writers ever since the first European travel account by Antonio Pigafetta. The most Southern region of the American continent has been associated with the end of the world, emptiness, wind, gigantic dimensions and eccentric characters over centuries.  Bruce Chatwin's postmodern travel book In Patagonia (1977) collects and brings to life all these clichés while at the same time it seeks to deconstruct them. Since the 1990s, however, Chilean and Argentinean writers have proposed alternative narratives of the South. This talk will focus on travel literature in a broader sense. On the one hand it will examine how travelers have followed the traces of Chatwin to rewrite his famous book by including the voices of the Patagonians today. On the other hand it will dwell on fictional travels in historical novels that allow for a different view on Patagonia's colonial history. The talk will finish with an outlook on the ironic appropriation of the travelers' fascination with the region in New Patagonian Poetry.