How do we navigate the space between the curated tourism experience and the raw concrete of the world beneath it?

We investigate the “imaginative geographies” we project onto other lands, examining how Italo Calvino’s semiotic cities, Arthur Conan Doyle’s romanticized London, and Mathieu Kassovitz’s brutalist Paris reveal the ethical tensions of the traveler’s gaze. We look into our habit of cropping out infrastructure and ask whether reading the raw city makes us better travelers or something worse. Bloomsday in Dublin and Iain Sinclair’s London Orbital are also considered.

Resources:

Calvino, Italo. Invisible Cities, 1974.
Doyle, Arthur Conan. “A Study in Scarlet,” 1930.
Harvey, David. The Condition of Postmodernity: An Enquiry into the Origins of Cultural Change, 1989.
Joyce, James. Ulysses, 1922.
Kassovitz, Mathieu, director. La Haine, 1995.
Said, Edward W. Orientalism, 1978.
Sinclair, Iain, and Chris Petit, directors. London Orbital, 2002.
Sinclair, Iain. London Orbital: A Walk Around the M25, 2002.

Episode 7.07 –

Mapping Dreams

Glossary

Imaginative Geography: The thought process, according to Edward Said, where we build a mental conception of a foreign landscape through literature, art, and personal or cultural desire long before we physically arrive, pre-determining and replacing the actual physical geography with a commodified myth. See Edward Said’s Orientalism, 1978.

Staged Authenticity: The socio-spatial phenomenon where tourism operators construct aesthetically controlled “front stages” (such as curated landmarks or replica villages) to satisfy the consumer/tourist’s desire for an authentic encounter, even while actively concealing the “back-stage” realities of local labor, economic extraction, and physical infrastructure.

Listener’s Guide Reflection Questions

When you crop a travel photograph to remove a power line, parking lot, or trash can, what reality are you trying to erase?
How does Sherlock Holmes’s cocaine addiction or Leopold Bloom’s alienation ruin the versions of London and Dublin sold by tourism?
How has Edward Said’s “imaginative geography” worked on your travel expectations in the past?
Do you watch fictional films or read books about urban decay or poverty? For what reasons?
Which of the two Calvino cities featured most resonate with you, Tamara or Zaira? Why?

Skeptical Pilgrim Challenges:

The Grand Tour - PDF
Packing Lists - PDF
Author Footprints - PDF
Mapping Dreams - PDF

Complete Resources: https://waywordsstudio.com/project/literary-tourism/

CHAPTERS

00:00 PEI and Tamara
04:26 Intro Theme
05:03 My PEI Failures
13:49 The Unhandy Embrace
20:51 Some Skeptical Exercises (Pt 4)
23:37 Zaira and Hard Spaces
36:45 Closing Credits

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Transcript and Full Bibliography: https://waywordsstudio.com/general/transcript/7-07-mapping-dreams

New to Literary Nomads?

Check out my introductory episodes (0.1-0.3) to find out what’s going on here! I’ve got an episode for readers, for teachers, and for students: https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/waywords-podcast/

Have a Question? Want to Comment? Literary Nomads Mailbag

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Literary Nomads is the main program of Waywords Studio (https://waywordsstudio.com). The podcast posts new material each week, with thought-provoking examinations of literature around selected questions or themes and several smaller supplemental episodes in between the larger programs: history, writing, and contemporary applications of ideas.

Visit us for expanded resources for guests and the Waywords community, for other programs and writing, and for opportunities to support our goal to expand reading. Resources available can include full bibliographies of material referenced, full and partial texts, annotated editions, supplemental and expanded episodes, fictional explorations, teaching and learning resources, additional essays, and online courses.

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CREDITS:

Original music by Randon Myles (https://randonmyles.com/)

Chapter headings by Natalie Harrison and Sarah Skaleski

USING THIS WORK:

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. It is open to be used and adapted for all not-for-profit uses with proper attribution.

MLA CITATION:

Chisnell, Steve. “7.07 Mapping Dreams. ” Literary Nomads. Waywords Studio, 31 July 2026, https://waywordsstudio.com/project/literary-tourism/