The Arctic Playground of Europe: Sir Martin Conway's Svalbard
Published version. Source at http://dx.doi.org/10.7557/13.3424 . 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...
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2015
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10037/8675 https://doi.org/10.7557/13.3424 |
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ftunivtroemsoe:oai:munin.uit.no:10037/8675 2023-05-15T14:41:26+02:00 The Arctic Playground of Europe: Sir Martin Conway's Svalbard Ryall, Anka 2015 https://hdl.handle.net/10037/8675 https://doi.org/10.7557/13.3424 eng eng Septentrio Academic Publishing Nordlit 2015(35):29-45 FRIDAID 1310912 http://dx.doi.org/10.7557/13.3424 doi:10.7557/13.3424 1503-2086 https://hdl.handle.net/10037/8675 URN:NBN:no-uit_munin_8221 openAccess Svalbard the Arctic tourism and travel writing landscape aesthetics Sir William Martin Conway John Ruskin Lord Dufferin rugged gentility homosocial domesticity VDP::Humaniora: 000::Kulturvitenskap: 060::Nordisk kulturvitenskap: 061 VDP::Humanities: 000::Cultural science: 060::Nordic cultural science: 061 Journal article Tidsskriftartikkel Peer reviewed 2015 ftunivtroemsoe https://doi.org/10.7557/13.3424 2021-06-25T17:54:39Z Published version. Source at http://dx.doi.org/10.7557/13.3424 . 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 Svalbard Spitsbergen University of Tromsø: Munin Open Research Archive Arctic Svalbard Conway ENVELOPE(-61.422,-61.422,-62.841,-62.841) Main Island ENVELOPE(-38.220,-38.220,-54.007,-54.007) Nordlit 35 29 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Tromsø: Munin Open Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftunivtroemsoe |
language |
English |
topic |
Svalbard the Arctic tourism and travel writing landscape aesthetics Sir William Martin Conway John Ruskin Lord Dufferin rugged gentility homosocial domesticity VDP::Humaniora: 000::Kulturvitenskap: 060::Nordisk kulturvitenskap: 061 VDP::Humanities: 000::Cultural science: 060::Nordic cultural science: 061 |
spellingShingle |
Svalbard the Arctic tourism and travel writing landscape aesthetics Sir William Martin Conway John Ruskin Lord Dufferin rugged gentility homosocial domesticity VDP::Humaniora: 000::Kulturvitenskap: 060::Nordisk kulturvitenskap: 061 VDP::Humanities: 000::Cultural science: 060::Nordic cultural science: 061 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 VDP::Humaniora: 000::Kulturvitenskap: 060::Nordisk kulturvitenskap: 061 VDP::Humanities: 000::Cultural science: 060::Nordic cultural science: 061 |
description |
Published version. Source at http://dx.doi.org/10.7557/13.3424 . 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://hdl.handle.net/10037/8675 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 Svalbard Conway Main Island |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Svalbard Conway Main Island |
genre |
Arctic Svalbard Spitsbergen |
genre_facet |
Arctic Svalbard Spitsbergen |
op_relation |
Nordlit 2015(35):29-45 FRIDAID 1310912 http://dx.doi.org/10.7557/13.3424 doi:10.7557/13.3424 1503-2086 https://hdl.handle.net/10037/8675 URN:NBN:no-uit_munin_8221 |
op_rights |
openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.7557/13.3424 |
container_title |
Nordlit |
container_issue |
35 |
container_start_page |
29 |
_version_ |
1766313207245307904 |