Chatwinesque, or Travel Writing as a Narrative Genre

What has changed in travel writing since Bruce Chatwin? Why have his books become the universal pass in the bag of each young traveler with literary aspirations? And, why do so many critics still look down their noses when reading his works? Focusing on In Patagonia (1977) and The Songlines (1987), this article investigates Chatwin's role in changing the idea of what a travelogue should (or could) be. Ambiguously juggling between documentary honesty and literary invention, Chatwin proposed a concept of travel writing as an autonomous narrative genre. In a world where travel writing had to redefine its meaning and face the new dynamics of globalization, he discovered a way to give back a voice to places and render them "cloths woven with stories".