Charles Montagu Doughty

Stephen Tabachnick (University of Memphis)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.08: English Writing and Culture of the early Twentieth Century , 1900-1945.
Vol. editors: Chris Baldick (Goldsmiths College, University of London), Peter Childs (Newman University), Louise McDonald (Newman University)

Dates

Born 19 Aug 1843
Died 20 Jan 1926
Activity 1886-1923

Places

Born in England
Active in England; Asia - Southwest

Activities

Primary

Geologist
Poet
Travel writer

Resources

Charles Montagu Doughty (1843-1926) ranks as the most important single Western explorer of Arabia and one of the greatest travel writers of all time. In highly idiosyncratic English art prose heavily influenced by Arabic words and rhythms – almost to the extent of bilingualism – his Travels in Arabia Deserta (1888) recounts his epic solo journey of 1876-78, on donkey, camel and foot, from Syria through the heart of Arabia to his final exit at the port of Jidda on the Red Sea coast. Over the course of forty chapters and one thousand pages, the reader watches Doughty as Khalil (Doughty's name in Arabia, referring to Islam's “Friend of God”, Abraham) painfully becoming the quintessential survivor as he surmounts a harsh l…

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2364 words

Citation: Tabachnick, Stephen. "Charles Montagu Doughty". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 03 July 2008 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=1294, accessed 26 November 2024.]

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