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What Is The Foreign Travels Of Sir John Mandeville

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In “The Foreign Travels of Sir John Mandeville,” John Mandeville provides an account of his travels by creating an imaginative geography of the people and places he visits. Through this imaginative geography the idea of the Western “self” is explored by highlighting the differences between “self,” and the “other” – the peoples of civilizations Mandeville visits. It is in this way that the Western identity is formed – it is not concerned with what Western civilization is but more, what it is not. This dichotomy between self and other is explored in Mandeville’s writing in several capacities, specifically: the civilized human and the savage animals, the pious Christians and the uncivilized pagans, and the good and the evil. Ultimately, it is these differences that give rise to ideas of cultural superiority including white supremacy. In Mandeville’s account of his travels, he describes the people he visits as uncivilized savages, in an effort to paint his native Western society as civilized. When properness is only described within the framework of Western society, it is not difficult to classify people of cultures that differ from the “default” Western culture as uncivilized savages. One recurring example of this is Mandeville’s use of nakedness. Mandeville notes how unusual it is that “the men and women go naked, and glory in it” (Mandeville 7) while those “of better breeding” (Mandeville 5) make attempts to conceal their bodies. Hence the notion is made that those

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