Evelyn Waugh: travel writing and politics

Thesis

In 1936, when deployed as the Daily Mail’s correspondent in the Second Italo-Abyssinian War (1935-36), Evelyn Waugh came to realise what previously had seemed a joke: that travel, and travel writing, was deadly politically serious. The purpose of this thesis is to execute a similar move: to take Waugh’s political travel writing seriously. In particular, to investigate how his travel writing is guided by a commitment to a form of political Roman Catholicism, which he shared with a coterie of influential right-wing Catholic writers and thinkers in the 1930s. Furthermore, this thesis examines the long afterlife of Waugh’s 1930s travel writing in a post-war British political landscape that was hostile to his politico-religious ideas.

Chapters One and Two of this thesis concern Waugh’s travel writing from the Second Italo-Abyssinian War. They examine the influence of Hilaire Belloc on Waugh’s interpretation of Italian Fascist expansionism as the rebirth of the Roman Empire, and argue that Waugh’s travel writing and journalism of this period forms part of the corpus of writing produced by English Catholic propaganda for Italy’s Roman Catholic imperialism in East Africa. Chapter Three analyses Waugh’s travel writing about Cárdenas’ Mexico in 1939. It argues that, by travelling to Mexico, Waugh constructs a travel book that indirectly addresses the Spanish Civil War. Chapter Four provides a reading of The Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold (1957), which argues that it represents a form of experimental travel book addressing the long-lasting outcomes of Waugh’s 1930 political travel books. Chapter Five concerns Waugh’s return to Africa in 1959 where the continent was on the verge of decolonisation. It analyses Waugh’s response to what he perceived to be the failure of his politico-religious hopes for Africa in the 1930s, and his pessimism for European civilisation as a result. In summary, this thesis illuminates Waugh’s travel writing through an examination of the politico-religious argument that he advances between the 1930s and the 1960s.

Authors: Irwin, R

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-bmon5rp5o
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: political travel writing; Evelyn Waugh
• Subjects: Travel writing--History--20th century