Exploring Elements of Travel Literature in Arun Kolatkar’s Poetry

Abstract

Literature cannot be compartmentalized into water tight compartment, if we try to do that we find that they blur into each other. It is difficult to define and categorize travel literature as such as it has borrowed elements from various genres and various genres reflect elements of travel literature. The travel literature explores the themes such as quest motif: quest for identity and spiritual quest too, gender and sexuality so on and so forth. History reveals that people travel since time immemorial, this helps in transportation of culture, religion, tradition, knowledge, way of living, values from one part of the world to the other. That’s why we find temples, churches, mosques, pagodas in various countries. The present paper is an attempt to analyze travel writing and elements of travel literature as it is refelected in Arun Kolatkar’s poetry. The paper endeavors to explain travel writing through the view of various critics. The paper presents an overview of the development of travel writing and elements of travel writing in literary works.