The self - promotion of a maverick travel writer: Suzuki Tsunenori and his Southern Pacific Islands travelogue, Nanyo tanken jikki

Nishino, Ryota (2017) The self - promotion of a maverick travel writer: Suzuki Tsunenori and his Southern Pacific Islands travelogue, Nanyo tanken jikki. Studies in Travel Writing, NA . pp. 1-14. ISSN 1364-5145

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Abstract

Suzuki Tsunenori (1853–1938; also known as Keikun) was one of the pioneering writers on Pacific Islands in the Meiji period. Recent scholarship has exposed flaws in his
representation of Pacific Islanders in his landmark travelogue, Nanyō tanken jikki [A True Chronicle of South Seas Exploration] (1892). While the criticism undermined his reputation for his ethnographic eye, this essay employs an alternative critical angle on self-presentation. Suzuki promotes himself as a shrewd multi-talented traveller, culturally astute and willing to venture into the wild. First, this essay sketches the circumstances under which Suzuki embarked on his southern Pacific Islands journey of 1889–1890. Then it analyses how Suzuki projects his desired persona in Jikki. He seeks to develop and exploit these attributes to advertise his performance as a reporter, a cultural interlocutor and a grassroots ambassador. An inward-looking orientation helps us to present a clearer picture
of Suzuki’s life and travelogues.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > DU Oceania (South Seas) G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GT Manners and customs H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform P Language and Literature > PI Oriental languages and literatures
Divisions:	Faculty of Arts, Law and Education (FALE) > School of Social Sciences
Depositing User:	Ryota Nishino
Date Deposited:	19 Apr 2017 03:38
Last Modified:	19 Apr 2017 03:38
URI:	https://repository.usp.ac.fj/id/eprint/9726

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