Bruce Chatwin, In Patagonia

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In Patagonia

, published in 1978, is an “autobiografictional” travelogue which both records and imagines the fulfilment of one of Bruce Chatwin's childhood fascinations, namely to retrace the travel adventures of his grandmother's uncle, Charley Milward, seadog, entrepreneur, and globetrotting family legend, who had died in Punta Arenas, Chile. Chatwin constructs the frame of his text around a playful variation of the literary quest motif. As a boy, his narrator persona sees a piece of animal skin with coarse, reddish hair in his grandmother's curio cabinet which had been sent to her by Charles Milward and which he believes to belong to a brontosaurus. Years later, when the occasion presents itself, the narrator sets out to research the path of his footloose forebear and the origin…

650 words

Citation: Utz, Richard. "In Patagonia". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 09 March 2001 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=4475, accessed 12 October 2024.]

4475 In Patagonia 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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