The Educational Legacy of British Travel Writing in the Balkans

Abstract Book of the 11th International Conference on Research in Education, Teaching and Learning

Year: 2026

[PDF]

The Educational Legacy of British Travel Writing in the Balkans

Denisa Celami, Aida Ciro

ABSTRACT:

This paper examines British travel writing on the Balkans, with particular attention to Albania, as a form of public pedagogy whose educational influence extended well beyond its original historical context. The works of writers such as Mary Edith Durham, Lord Byron, Margaret Hasluck and the like are analysed to demonstrate that these narratives did more than record journeys to regions perceived as distant or unfamiliar. Their accounts produced structured knowledge with educational value grounded in ethnographic observation, moral reflection, and assertions of experiential authority. In doing so, they shaped popular and intellectual understandings of the Balkans in late 19th and early 20th century Britain.
The study places travel writing within the frameworks of public pedagogy. It argues that such texts functioned as informal educational instruments that influenced geopolitical perception, reinforced or challenged gendered forms of knowledge production, and contributed to the construction of cultural hierarchies. Over time, selected narratives entered archives, academic syllabi, and historiographical debates, acquiring the status of literary heritage. As travel reportage evolved, these works gained an educational valence that continues to inform scholarly discourse and wider representations of the region.
The consequences of this legacy for education in the modern era are then examined. It poses the question of how inherited trip narratives, which both reflect power and perspective imbalances and provide insightful historical analysis, should be taught in modern classrooms. A critical and reflective approach to these writings is suggested, acknowledging them as educational objects as well as historical records. The study adds to the conversation on intercultural education, literary heritage, and the moral obligation of teaching culturally formative stories in an international academic setting.

Keywords: Travel Writing, Intercultural Education, Literary Heritage