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Imaginary voyage is a narrative genre which presents fictitious locations in the form of a travel narrative, but has no generally agreed-upon definition.[1] It has been subdivided intofantastic voyages andrealistic voyages depending on the prominence of "marvelous or supernatural elements".[1]: 104–105 It can be autopian orsatirical representation put into a fictional frame oftravel account.[2][1][3] It has been regarded as a predecessor ofscience fiction.[4][5]
Goeffroy Atkinson suggested as a more detailed subdivision of imaginary voyages published up to 1720:[1]: 93–97 [6][7]
Sources including later developments of the genre added as types:[4][5]
Elements of the imaginary voyage can also appear in thepicaresque novel. InGrimmelshausen’sSimplicius Simplicissimus (1668), for example, the eponymous hero travels to the centre of the earth and is later stranded on a desert island, both of which are hallmarks of the genre.[8]
The imaginary voyage is a very archaic narrative technique precedingromance andnovelistic forms. Two known examples from Greek literature areEuhemerus'Sacred History andIambulus’Islands of the Sun.[9] Their utopian islands are apparently modeled from mythologicalFortunate Isles.
Lucian'sTrue History parodizes the whole genre of imaginary voyage, and in his foreword Lucian cites Iambulus as one of objects of parody.[9][4][10] He also foregrounds his work as being a deliberate fabrication: "I will say one thing that is true, and that is that I am a liar".[11]Photius states though in hisBibliotheca that its main object wasAntonius Diogenes'The Incredible Wonders Beyond Thule,[10] a genre blending of fantastic voyage andGreek romance which popularizedPythagorean teachings.
Exotic travel writing appeared in the form of wonder books in the medieval West in the 13th century, fantastic tales of imaginary voyages presented as real autobiographical accounts.The Travels of Sir John Mandeville (c. 1357) and theItinerarius of Johannes Witte de Hese (c. 1390) are important representatives of this late medieval tendency.[12][13]
The first to revive this form in the Modern era wasThomas More in hisUtopia (1515), to be followed a century later by proliferation of utopian islands:Johannes Valentinus Andreae'sReipublicae Christianopolitanae descriptio (1619),Tommaso Campanella'sThe City of the Sun (1623),Francis Bacon'sNew Atlantis (1627),Jacob Bidermann'sUtopia (1640),Gabriel Daniel'sVoyage du monde de Descartes (1690), François Lefebvre'sRelation du voyage de l’isle d’Eutopie (1711), as well as many others.Denis Vairasse'The history of the Sevarambi (1675) andGabriel de Foigny'sLa Terre australe connue (1676), which describe voyages to utopian civilisations in Australia, both received popular translations into English.[8]
Lucian's satirical line was exploited byFrançois Rabelais'Gargantua and Pantagruel (1532) and developed later on inJoseph Hall'sMundus Alter et Idem (1607),François Hédelin'sHistoire du temps (1654),Cyrano de Bergerac'sHistoire comique contenant les États et Empires de la Lune (1657) andFragments d’histoire comique contenant les États et Empires du Soleil (1662),[5][14]Charles Sorel'sNouvelle Découverte du Royaume de Frisquemore (1662),Margaret Cavendish'sThe Blazing World (1666),Joshua Barnes'Gerania (1675),Bernard de Fontenelle'sRelation de l’île de Bornéo (1686),Daniel Defoe'sThe Consolidator (1705), and most notably inJonathan Swift'sGulliver's Travels (1726).
While the narratives themselves were romanticised, there was a desire amongst the reading public for real details of the places visited, which the authors would typically derive from works published by real-life explorers. In Francois Rabelais’Gargantua and Pantagruel, for example, details about a voyage to the New World were derived from the explorerJacques Cartier, whileThe Travels of John Mandeville borrows details fromOdoric of Pordenone andWilliam of Boldensele.[15]
The eighteenth century saw the genre come into particular literary prominence. Written during the major period of imperial expansion and typically set in unexplored regions of the world such as Australasia and the Pacific, these works allowed readers to engage in fantasies of colonisation.[16] The primary cultural exponents of the imaginary voyages during this period were Swift'sGulliver's Travels andDaniel Defoe'sRobinson Crusoe (1719), both of which were imitated by other authors. One such imitator, Roger Paltock'sThe Life and Adventures of Peter Wilkins (1750), incorporates the latter's scientific realism with the former's fantastical setting.[17] InGulliver’s Travels, the kingdoms visited are distorted but recognisable versions of European societies; "the colonial voyage into alien culture actually serves to revalue one’s own".[17]: 8–9 Other journeys to utopian civilisations from this period include Captain Samuel Brunt'sA Voyage to Cacklogallinia (1727) and Simon Berington’sThe Memoirs of Signor Gaudentio di Lucca (1737)[18]Simon Tyssot de Patot'sThe Travels and Adventures of James Massey (1720), which sees the eponymous protagonist shipwrecked on the pacifistic utopia of Austral Land, is considered one of the sources ofGulliver's Travels.[8]
The growing curiosity in exploration during this period led to many publishers printing anonymously-written accounts of voyages deliberately styled to appear as realistic as possible.[15] By presenting the information as potentially factual it was of greater interest to the reading public than other forms of fiction. A 1750 article in the London-based periodicalThe Monthly Review commented that "voyage accounts are generally looked upon as truth [as they have] a much stronger claim to the reader's attention, than the most striking incidents in a novel or romance."[19] Early critical attention to the imaginary voyage genre primarily involved trying to distinguish whether these accounts were genuine or fabricated. In 1787, Charles Garnier created a thirty-six volume collection of these imaginary voyages entitledVoyages imaginaires, songes, visions et romans cabalistiques in which he attempted to distinguish between the "possible" and "impossible" journeys.[16]
Imaginary voyage has become a natural medium for promoting new astronomic ideas. First literary space flights after Lucian were: Juan Maldonado'sSomnium (1541),Johann Kepler'sSomnium (1634),Francis Godwin'sThe Man in the Moone (1638),John Wilkins'The Discovery of a World in the Moone (1638),Athanasius Kircher'sItinerarium extaticum (1656), David Russen'sIter lunare (1703),Diego de Torres Villarroel'sViaje fantástico (1723),Eberhard Christian Kindermann [de]'sDie geschwinde Reise auf dem Luftschiff nach der obern Welt (1744) – the first flight to planets,Robert Paltock'sThe life and adventures of Peter Wilkins (1751),Voltaire'sMicromégas (1752). This form of the moon voyage narrative typically uses the introduction of ‘the man of the moon’ to comment on the political reality of the author. For example, in Daniel Defoe’sThe Consolidator (1705), the flying machine serves as a metaphor for parliament, while in Captain Samuel Brunt'sA Voyage to Cacklogallinia (1727) the narrator searches for gold on the moon in an extended reference to thecontemporary South Sea Bubble financial crash.[17]
The works ofJules Verne represented a growing interest in the mechanics of the voyage, rather than the destination. InTwenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas (1870), the dimensions and means of travel of the submarine the Nautilus are described, while similar calculations are referred to inFive Weeks in a Balloon (1863) andFrom the Earth to the Moon (1865).[20]
Major works of Victorian fantasy such asH. Rider Haggard'sShe: A History of Adventure (1886) andWilliam Morris'The Well at the World's End can be viewed within the genre of the Imaginary Voyage. Twentieth century inheritors includeL. Frank Baum'sThe Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900),David Lindsay'sA Voyage to Arcturus (1920),Norton Juster'sThe Phantom Tollbooth (1961) andAngela Carter'sThe Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman (1972).[21]
Imaginary voyages and travels cannot, for the most part, be regarded as pure romances; they have generally some ulterior purpose in view, political or satirical.
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