A General Economy of Travel: Identity, Memory, and Death

by Afshin Hafizi

Overview

The central concern of this study is the basic question: what does it mean to travel? In order to understand this query, Hafizi places the discourse on travel within an economical framework and distinguishes between two interdependent forms: a restricted economy of travel and a general economy of travel. The apparent closed structure of departure and arrival in a traditional definition of travel, which Hafizi refers to as a restricted economy of travel, is usually teleological in its movement from an origin towards a destination. More often than not, it is an incarnation of knowledge and light, an unveiling of the secrets of the others. Hafizi challenges this structure by arguing that behind this traditional notion of travel lies a different itinerary, which he refers to as a general economy of travel. This itinerary departs from a non-origin, whose trajectory is not continuous, ordered, or controlled, and whose destination is a being-destined-to-wander. The arrival at a destination is never guaranteed. In conclusion, Hafizi invites us to look at the phenomenon of travel with a Janus face: to see, in the experience of the foreign, not only that which is gathered but also that which is scattered.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780761856238
Publisher:	University Press of America
Publication date:	12/14/2011
Pages:	166
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Afshin Hafizi is professor of liberal arts at the Savannah College of Art and Design, where he teaches courses in English, world literature, history of literary criticism, and the cinema of the Middle East and North Africa. He was previously a Marion L. Brittain Post-Doctoral Fellow in technical writing and communication at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta. He has taught at various institutions of higher learning, including the University of Florida, Kennesaw State University, and Strayer University Online.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: The Restricted Economy of Travel
Chapter 3: Toward A General Economy of Travel
Chapter 4: Réda Bensmaïa's The Year of Passages: Mourning Becomes Diaspora
Chapter 5: Conclusion
Bibliography

Editorial Reviews

Hafizi's book is an inventive study of travel writing from the perspective of "general economy," a notion taken from Bataille, that argues for thinking about foundations, whether memory, identity, family, or the state, as always already disrupted by forces beyond the subject. In each of his chapters, Hafizi intervenes in current critical debates in a thoughtful manner, and his discussion of the importance of travel for understanding the theoretical implications of displacement is astute and informed.

John. P. Leavey

Hafizi critiques the conventional notions of travel and presents a different philosophy. .. in which it is not guaranteed that travel results in a form of cultural capital for the subject.

Colin Hariskov

Hafizi's book is an inventive study of travel writing from the perspective of "general economy," a notion taken from Bataille, that argues for thinking about foundations, whether memory, identity, family, or the state, as always already disrupted by forces beyond the subject. In each of his chapters, Hafizi intervenes in current critical debates in a thoughtful manner, and his discussion of the importance of travel for understanding the theoretical implications of displacement is astute and informed.--John. P. Leavey, professor of English, University of Florida

Hafizi critiques the conventional notions of travel and presents a different philosophy . . . in which it is not guaranteed that travel results in a form of cultural capital for the subject.--Colin Hariskov, professor of philosophy, School of Liberal Arts, Savannah College of Art and Design

From the Publisher