ABSTRACT
ThepurposeofthisessayistoexaminewhetherSmollett'stextshouldberead asanautobiographicaltraveldiaryorasapartiallyfictionaltravelnarrative.
Atfirst,thisquestionmayseemirrelevantsince,asearlyasletterI,the narratorexhibitsseveralfeaturesthatremindthereaderofSmollett:'Youknew, andpitiedmysituation,traducedbymalice,abandonedbyfalsepatrons,and overwhelmedbythesenseofdomesticcalamity,whichitwasnotinthepower offortunetorepair'(2).ItiswidelyknownthatSmollett'sbiographyconfirms thesereferencesaswellasanumberofotherfactsmentionedinthetext.4But nowadaysnocriticcansubscribetoastraightforwardbiographicalreadingof thetext,suchasthatofThomasSeccombeatthebeginningofthiscentury,who maintainedthatthelettershadbeenwrittenatthedatesandplacesmentioned andactuallysenttocorrespondents.5Thecontextestablishedbythefirst sentenceisunquestionablyfictional:'Youlaidyourcommandsuponmeat parting,tocommunicatefromtimetotimetheobservationsIshouldmakein thecourseofmytravels,anditwasaninjunctionIreceivedwithpleasure'(2). SmolletthimselfunderlinestheartificialstructureoftheTravelsinanoftquotedlettertoJohnMoore:'TheobservationsImadeinthecourseofmy travelsthro'FranceandItalyIhavethrownintoaSeriesofletters,which willmaketwoVolumesinOctavo.' 6Withitstechnicalconnotationssuggestive ofpotteryorcarpentry,theverbSmollettemployshintsatthetransformationof amaterialthatwasnot,originally,epistolary.Moreover,inthetextitself (LetterVIII)theaddresseeisnotintroducedasanindividualbutasamore complexcollectiveentity:
Thenotionofa'society'ofcorrespondentsisessentiallyfictional,evenifone knowsofrealletterswrittenbySmollettthatwereintendedtobereadby severalcorrespondents.7Furthermore,eventhoughSmollett'snamecanbe foundonthetitlepageofthebook('T.Smollett,M.D.'),itneverappearsinthe narrativeitselfandthenarratorremainsanonymous,asthelettersconclude withoutsignature:'yourhumbleservant','youraffectionatehumbleservant', 'yours','yoursaffectionately','yourmostobedientservant'.8Hencethereis nonameinTravelsthroughFranceandItalytounifytheenunciationand toguaranteethatthenarratorandtheauthorarethesameperson.Neitheris thereisanyprefaceorintroductorylettertoindicatethattheletterscollected areauthentic(whereasthisisparadoxicallythecaseinHumphryClinker, withitstwoopeninglettersbyJonathanDustwichandHenryDavis).Yet autobiographyasagenrerestsontheidentityoftheauthor,thenarratorandthe characterwhoisthesubjectofthenarrative.Thereisnosuch'autobiographical pact'intheTravels9nor,incidentally,isthereanyfictionalpact(as,for example,inOliverGoldsmith'sTheVicarofWakefield,publishedthesame yearandsubtitled,'ATalesupposedtobewrittenbyhimself').Thetitleitself failstothrowlightontheproblematicalstatusofatextbelongingtoagenre basedonacontractwhileincludingnocontract.
