Narratives in the Net: Fiction and Cornish Tourism. (1st May 2006)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Busby, Graham; Laviolette, Patrick
• Is Part Of: Cornish studies. Volume 14:Number 1(2006)
• Page Start: 142
• Page End: 163
• Publication Date: 2006-05-01
• DOI: 10.1386/corn.14.1.142_1
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2053-9363

Abstract

Literature has, undoubtedly, informed the general public's affiliations with Cornwall to significant degrees. Literary inspirations have come from John Betjeman, Jack Clemo, Geoffrey Grigson, Thomas Hardy, Arthur Quiller-Couch, E.V. Thompson, James Turner, Alfred Tennyson and Virginia Woolf to name but a few. Based on a collection of material via the internet with regard to Winston Graham's novels, this article tentatively explores the relationship between literature and tourism in Cornwall. It considers some of the impacts on local visitation that Graham's writings have had and contextualizes these observations by comparison with Daphne du Maurier's fictional works. In contemplating the concept of literary tourism with reference to Cornwall, the article examines the 'draw' factor that these iconic authors have had upon their reading publics. It also pays particular attention to the transformation of their novels into television and cinema adaptations as well as the increasing availability for commentary and purchase via the world-wide-web. The article is, therefore, set additionally within a framework concerned with virtuality, cyberspace and the idea of the hypertext. Hence, we equally conceptualize the advantages and criticisms that certain types of online research techniques raise for studying perceptions of Cornwall, while considering the interdisciplinary study of tourism more broadly.