The Arctic Playground of Europe: Sir Martin Conway’s Svalbard
The development of tourism is a significant aspect of the processes of modernity in the High Arctic. This article discusses the British art historian and mountaineer Sir William Martin Conway's two travelogues, The First Crossing of Spitsbergen (1897) and With Ski and Sledge over Arctic Glacier...
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2015
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ftunitroemsoe:oai:ojs.henry.ub.uit.no:article/3424 2023-05-15T14:21:40+02:00 The Arctic Playground of Europe: Sir Martin Conway’s Svalbard Ryall, Anka 2015-04-22 application/pdf https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/nordlit/article/view/3424 https://doi.org/10.7557/13.3424 nor nor Septentrio Academic Publishing https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/nordlit/article/view/3424/3330 https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/nordlit/article/view/3424 doi:10.7557/13.3424 Copyright (c) 2015 Anka Ryall http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ CC-BY Nordlit; No 35 (2015): Arctic Modernities; 29–45 Nordlit; Nr 35 (2015): Arctic Modernities; 29–45 1503-2086 0809-1668 Svalbard the Arctic tourism and travel writing landscape aesthetics Sir William Martin Conway John Ruskin Lord Dufferin rugged gentility homosocial domesticity info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Peer-reviewed article Fagfellevurdert artikkel 2015 ftunitroemsoe https://doi.org/10.7557/13.3424 2021-08-16T15:51:17Z The development of tourism is a significant aspect of the processes of modernity in the High Arctic. This article discusses the British art historian and mountaineer Sir William Martin Conway's two travelogues, The First Crossing of Spitsbergen (1897) and With Ski and Sledge over Arctic Glaciers (1898), in terms of a pioneering tourist approach to the archipelago of Svalbard. Unlike earlier yachting tourists, Conway described a journey into the uncharted interior of the main island, Spitsbergen. His books are therefore narrated as exploration accounts and following many of the demands of that genre, such as an emphasis on mapping, natural science and being the first. However, they may also be read as guidebooks for other discerning and undaunted British gentleman travellers. Inspired by the art critic John Ruskin’s “science of aspects”, which combined accurate scientific observations and practical knowledge with an imaginative and aesthetic response to the landscape, Conway attempts to give his readers a positive sense of the qualities of the Arctic. At the same time, he promotes Svalbard as an Arctic “Playground of Europe”, where adventurous Alpinists in addition to climbing unknown mountains and glaciers could find fraternal domesticity far away from home around the hearth of the campfire. In this way Conway locates natural beauty, life and recreational opportunities where travellers before him had only described desolation and death. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic Svalbard Spitsbergen University of Tromsø: Septentrio Academic Publishing Arctic Conway ENVELOPE(-61.422,-61.422,-62.841,-62.841) Main Island ENVELOPE(-38.220,-38.220,-54.007,-54.007) Svalbard Nordlit 35 29 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Tromsø: Septentrio Academic Publishing |
op_collection_id |
ftunitroemsoe |
language |
Norwegian |
topic |
Svalbard the Arctic tourism and travel writing landscape aesthetics Sir William Martin Conway John Ruskin Lord Dufferin rugged gentility homosocial domesticity |
spellingShingle |
Svalbard the Arctic tourism and travel writing landscape aesthetics Sir William Martin Conway John Ruskin Lord Dufferin rugged gentility homosocial domesticity Ryall, Anka The Arctic Playground of Europe: Sir Martin Conway’s Svalbard |
topic_facet |
Svalbard the Arctic tourism and travel writing landscape aesthetics Sir William Martin Conway John Ruskin Lord Dufferin rugged gentility homosocial domesticity |
description |
The development of tourism is a significant aspect of the processes of modernity in the High Arctic. This article discusses the British art historian and mountaineer Sir William Martin Conway's two travelogues, The First Crossing of Spitsbergen (1897) and With Ski and Sledge over Arctic Glaciers (1898), in terms of a pioneering tourist approach to the archipelago of Svalbard. Unlike earlier yachting tourists, Conway described a journey into the uncharted interior of the main island, Spitsbergen. His books are therefore narrated as exploration accounts and following many of the demands of that genre, such as an emphasis on mapping, natural science and being the first. However, they may also be read as guidebooks for other discerning and undaunted British gentleman travellers. Inspired by the art critic John Ruskin’s “science of aspects”, which combined accurate scientific observations and practical knowledge with an imaginative and aesthetic response to the landscape, Conway attempts to give his readers a positive sense of the qualities of the Arctic. At the same time, he promotes Svalbard as an Arctic “Playground of Europe”, where adventurous Alpinists in addition to climbing unknown mountains and glaciers could find fraternal domesticity far away from home around the hearth of the campfire. In this way Conway locates natural beauty, life and recreational opportunities where travellers before him had only described desolation and death. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Ryall, Anka |
author_facet |
Ryall, Anka |
author_sort |
Ryall, Anka |
title |
The Arctic Playground of Europe: Sir Martin Conway’s Svalbard |
title_short |
The Arctic Playground of Europe: Sir Martin Conway’s Svalbard |
title_full |
The Arctic Playground of Europe: Sir Martin Conway’s Svalbard |
title_fullStr |
The Arctic Playground of Europe: Sir Martin Conway’s Svalbard |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Arctic Playground of Europe: Sir Martin Conway’s Svalbard |
title_sort |
arctic playground of europe: sir martin conway’s svalbard |
publisher |
Septentrio Academic Publishing |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/nordlit/article/view/3424 https://doi.org/10.7557/13.3424 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-61.422,-61.422,-62.841,-62.841) ENVELOPE(-38.220,-38.220,-54.007,-54.007) |
geographic |
Arctic Conway Main Island Svalbard |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Conway Main Island Svalbard |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Svalbard Spitsbergen |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Svalbard Spitsbergen |
op_source |
Nordlit; No 35 (2015): Arctic Modernities; 29–45 Nordlit; Nr 35 (2015): Arctic Modernities; 29–45 1503-2086 0809-1668 |
op_relation |
https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/nordlit/article/view/3424/3330 https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/nordlit/article/view/3424 doi:10.7557/13.3424 |
op_rights |
Copyright (c) 2015 Anka Ryall http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.7557/13.3424 |
container_title |
Nordlit |
container_issue |
35 |
container_start_page |
29 |
_version_ |
1766294383743729664 |