The Journey Motif in Literature: From Physical to Inner Worlds
The Physical Journey in Medieval Literature
In the medieval period, the protagonist is often a hero, a demigod, or a divinely protected figure. The knight of virtue, as an incarnation of the values of a theocentric era founded on Christianity, is oriented toward a quest to recover or establish his honor and prove his loyalty to the crown he serves. This was the case for El Cid, who, after being banished, toured Spain and fought against the Moors to gain territories, thus regaining his honor and the favor of King Alfonso.
Travel During the Age of Discovery
The great discoveries that took place in the late Middle Ages brought the journey to the forefront of literature. Chronicles emerged that primarily described the hitherto unknown territories of America and Asia. Travel through different physical spaces was used as a way to explain this new reality and make it known in Europe.
The Renaissance Journey and Social Commentary
During this period, travel acquired a critical social dimension. Through the eyes of the literary traveler, the customs and traditions of other places are valued. The Renaissance journey also describes lush places, and the picaresque character roams through different social spaces. As seen in Lazarillo de Tormes, its roguish protagonist witnesses and denounces the ways of life of his time throughout his travels as a vassal to different lords.
The Neoclassical Journey: Man vs. Society
Neoclassicism uses the social dimension of physical space to contrast man in his natural state with the one who has acquired vices from life in modern society. This approach follows Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s idea that man is good and free by nature, but life in society corrupts and limits that spirit with arbitrary rules. This is reflected in:
- Robinson Crusoe: A modern man comes to appreciate the life of the natives living on the island where he was shipwrecked.
- Gulliver’s Travels: This work uses allegory to criticize 18th-century English society. The novel is often presented as a children’s story when it is actually an acute political and social critique. The various places the protagonist visits reflect a society in conflict. On one hand, Gulliver is compelled to defend traditional, conservative values during his time in Lilliput as a giant protector. On the other hand, the story denounces the greed of the aristocracy and imperial ambitions. When the protagonist finally ends his voyages, his perspective of the world has changed so deeply that he can no longer readjust to his own reality.
The 19th Century and Adventure Novels
In the nineteenth century, with the apogee of realism, the spirit of adventure novels was revived. These stories highlighted the achievements of brave explorers, emphasizing the exotic adventures that unfolded both spatially and socially.
The Inner Journey of Self-Knowledge
As noted, a journey through different physical spaces can simultaneously be an internal one for a character. In this realm, the most important discoveries are not made in the environment but within the person. The journey leads the character to reflect on their worldview, beliefs, and values. Such an inner journey is an instance of personal growth, as it will undermine the foundations of the character’s personality, to some extent destroying it to rebuild it. The process can also end in self-degradation, distress, or madness.
The Oniric Journey: Travels in Dreams
This inner journey is done on the plane of dreams; that is, its realization is at an unconscious level and is the product of psychic mechanisms that operate when the mind’s watch has been let down. This type of trip has its own logic, different from the natural world, where all repressed fears, desires, and instinctual forces can be released. During wakefulness, this is connected to the Romantic exaltation of the self and the expression of interiority. Such an inner journey explores feelings in their pure form, unprocessed by the prism of logic and reason.
It is also possible to find the oniric journey in works influenced by the Surrealist movement and others after it. This is used to manifest that reality is not univocal, but that there are different ways of perceiving and interpreting it. It thus poses that reality is not free from randomness, chaos, and unpredictability. For example, in the story The Night Face Up, it is stipulated that the reality we sometimes live can be as strange and unsettling as the plane of dreams.