Critical research in travel writing has done much over the past two and a half decades to decolonize the genre and confront its tainted legacy. In particular, greater awareness of the historical, political and cultural factors influencing the textual representations of different cultures and places has revealed travel writing's role in supporting the phantasmic dynamics of Europe's perception of its ‘others’ and in upholding the asymmetrical power relations of Europe's colonial project. Analysis of the imperial ventriloquism of colonial travel writing has shown how a hierarchical relationship developed between the authoritative European observer and the passive, silent and immobile object of the latter's gaze. In addition, recuperative projects within the field of travel writing have been successful in presenting a more inclusive and complex generic genealogy that takes account of the influence of variables such as gender, social class, and, to a lesser extent, ethnic identity. Studies focusing on literature of the so-called postcolonial era have also contributed greatly to new understandings of the ways in which cultures travel and interact in the modern world. And whilst it is right to criticize the abstractions that can arise from an over-emphasis on metaphorical and epistemological journeys, their recurrence in much critical discourse nonetheless points to a recognition of the central place of travel in today's world.

These critical developments have undoubtedly contributed to the transformation of the Western academic landscape and are certainly welcome.