Writing: Road Trips

LitHub published On the Political Meaning of the Road Narrative by Tiphanie Yanique. She has interesting takes on various American road trip stories. Her thesis, I think, is here:

Because the road narrative relies on the landscape, it also metaphorizes issues of nationhood and national culture. What happens on the road happens because of America; the very land determines the outcome of the plot. This allows for the writer to say something political, particularly something about freedom (or the lack of it), without necessarily being heavy-handed.

Into one of my stories I put in a road trip through part of Indiana. I sit here thinking of how I used the landscape and the only answer I came up with is I did as much as there is landscape in Indiana.  Still, my intent was to explore culture.

I did get an idea based on my own circumstances: someone who cannot go on a road trip.

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1/4/22