Grand Tours Pt 2: Bat on the Narrow Road
About this episode
The episode explores the contrast between passive tourism and meaningful travel through the lens of literature and philosophy.
What’s the difference between being a passive tourist and a wayfarer? Follow the 17th-century footsteps of Matsuo Basho to interrogate the gap between curated tourist destinations and the open-ended, ego-stripping realities of true travel. By contrasting the lush, internal landscapes of L.M. Montgomery with the skeletal prose of classical Japanese travel sketches, we ask: Can we ever truly encounter a sovereign landscape, or do our books merely wrap the earth in a comforting postcard illusion? Along the way, we look at the haiku in its haibun form and use Martin Heidegger’s classic distinction between ‘Earth’ and ‘World.’ Can Basho’s haiku lessons rescue us from our egos. Maybe, but 400 years later, other writers have their own responses to him! Episode 7.02 – Grand Tours Pt 2: Bat on the Narrow Road Readings & Resources: Bashō, Matsuo. The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches . Translated by Nobuyuki Yuasa. Montgomery, L. M. The Alpine Path: The Story of My Career . 1917. Montgomery, L. M. The Blue Castle . 1926. Downer, Lesley. On the Narrow Road to the Deep North: Journey into a Lost Japan , 1989 Flanagan…
More episodes of Waywords Studio Full Slate
- Author Footprints Pt. 1 – Aura & Reliquary
- Packing Lists Pt. 2 – Stalwart Women
- Packing Lists Pt. 1: Dreams and Dirt
- Grand Tours Pt 1: The Postcard Illusion
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