I have just come back from a vacation on an island close to my native culture. Life flows slower on islands. They have a little something, and they hold a special place in literature, especially British literature. From William Shakespeare to Aldous Huxley, islands make the perfect setting for one particular literary genre—parables.
All credit for this intuition goes to Lawrence Osborne and his introduction to "The Naked Tourist: In Search of Adventure and Beauty in the Age of the Airport Mall." Lawrence Osborne is a widely published British novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter.
“The Naked Tourist” is the book I chose for diving deep into his work. I had the chance to listen to a recent interview with the author, and I will integrate what I heard with what I read.
Primavoltità
The pursuit of primavoltità applies to tourism as well as literature. Primavoltità is an Italian neologism invented by Roberto Bazlen, an Italian writer and publicist. It suggests that literature, through incessant reinvention, stimulates new vital sparks. The translation of primavoltità is something along the lines of first-time-ness.
The final destination of Lawrence Osborne’s journey, reported in “The Naked Tourist,” is Papua New Guinea’s primary forest, which has indeed something to do with the pursuit of a personal first time, for the author and for us, through his eyes and authorial voice.
Exposure
Literature should be rooted in one place, but Osborne doesn’t function like that—so he said during the interview. I will add that the act of writing for the public, the awareness that strangers will read your writing sooner or later, leads to feeling exposed.
Places create people, so when normal people go to places they don’t know, they are exposed and can be observed differently. Just picture tourists as incomplete people and locals can make them complete. Does this resonate with you? Do you feel incomplete each time you travel to a new place? I believe everyone does, at some point in their lives.
Delay
There is no longer one single unexplored corner on God’s green earth. Similarly, in literature, everything sounds familiar, everything has precedents. However, the secret to a good story is to imagine the characters’ deepest wishes and to delay their fulfillment by all possible means, wisely delaying the ending. If the plot goes from point A to point B, make sure that the pathway is as tortuous as possible, but keep it plausible.
How can we pursue authentic experiences? How can we pursue primavoltità while traveling? By delaying the arrival at the destination, according to Osborne. By taking several connecting flights and making stops on the way.
Personally, I got over the sole pursuit of primavoltità. The second most memorable experience was walking away from the sun and into the shadows of a bar without A/C, at 10 am, where I smelled tomato sauce and sautéed onions: a very familiar smell, 3,000 kilometers away from home. As a matter of fact, I must be quite a creature of habit. I’m sure I’ll go back to Tenerife a second time.
Edited by Kate Linsley
Going to a different place or having several connecting flights doesn't necessarily provide me with an authentic experience. Getting to know people at that place and connecting with them, trying their dishes, going to their local markets does give me a sense of authenticity. :)
We resonate with stories and adventure. When we hear tourist guides or local people talking about the place, we understand why it is so incredible and unique. Indeed, authentic experiences are possible when we delay the ending. Therefore, we should stay as many days as possible, I am just saying :) haha.