The Postcolonial Itinerary: Mapping India in Contemporary Indian Travel Narratives

Abstract

This article explores the history and evolution of travel writing as a literary genre, with a focus on the contemporary Indian context. It registers contemporary Indian writers like Pankaj Mishra, Pradeep Damodaran and Bishwanath Ghosh, who have diversified the genre by documenting small towns, adopting unconventional modes of travel, and weaving in postcolonial themes of identity and belonging. Among these emerging trends, there has been a growing engagement with contested geographies, including the Indian borders. This study on contemporary Indian travel writing looks at the alternative forms to represent the nation by addressing its neglected interior spaces and geopolitically sensitive peripheries. In doing so, it not only broadens the geographical scope of Indian travel literature but also contributes to larger conversations about the redefinition of borders. In essence, this study attempts to map the emergence of travel narratives which reconstruct the idea of India not through its celebrated landmarks, but through intimate encounters with its overlooked people and places.