Travel facts.... Travel fiction

Nicky Gardner reflects on issues of authenticity in travel writing:

Well, Amina certainly had me fooled. There I was worrying last week about a brave Syrian blogger suffering awfully in detention, and its turns out that the entire Amina story was a web of lies, its creator a married American male and not the Syrian lesbian I had supposed. Amina’s blog spun a credible yarn about everyday life in Damascus. It’s a good reminder that, on the internet, no-one knows you’re a dog.

And it’s a good reminder that Amina’s is not the first false trail to come out of Damascus. Cast back to the 14th century, and one of the most popular vernacular texts of the day was an engaging piece of travel writing called Mandeville’s Travels, which contained a fine account of Damascus. The purported author was one Sir John Mandeville, an alias for we know not whom. But what we do know is that the author almost certainly never set foot in Damascus, nor indeed in most of the other places described in Mandeville’s Travels.

Tom MacMaster’s Amina blog was positively dangerous, distracting our attention from real news from Syria at a critical moment. But what of Mandeville? How far must travel writing carry the seal of authenticity? Some editions of Mandeville’s Travels include an account of the author travelling to Rome and there securing the imprimatur of the pope. “And so my book is affirmed and proved by our Holy Father,” boasted the author.

But in truth, some of the best travel writing is utterly fictional. Be it Melville’s Adventures in the South Seas or Jan Morris’ wonderful account of the fictitious port of Hav, imagined narratives often outshine documentary reality. Fact and fiction often blend in travel writing. Does that matter? I don’t think so. What do you think? I’m off to read Homer’s Odyssey as I plan my summer trip to the land of the Sirens.