WHEN CONSTRUCTING THEORIES of “cultural exchange” in literature, we aim at exploring the ways in which intercultural experiences affect and influence individuals, and at identifying how a reaction to cultures is voiced. The term cultural exchange, as opposed to phrases like “cultural encounter” and “cultural influence,” is interesting for an interdisciplinary discussion of culture, because it has the added implicit dimension of reciprocity. While two-way exchanges are also a prerequisite for the concepts of “cultural hybridity” and “creolization,” terms which take their reference points from genetics and linguistics, cultural exchange, however, borrows its imagery from the world of trade and commerce, focusing instead on the act of giving something in return for something of equal, or of more or less value. Indeed, the exchange of anything of cultural value will inevitably raise questions about homogeneity, pluralism, identity, difference, and dominance.

The discussion of cultural exchange in literary studies is structured and organized around a number of key areas which often have their origins in other disciplines such as cultural geography, anthropology, linguistics, translation studies, and cultural history. Chief focal points are on the means and modes of multi-polar cultural transfers and include the discussion of the sites of exchange, the methods, the value of the objects, the agents, the causes, and the reasons for the exchange, and furthermore the terms on which the exchange has taken place. With its focus usually on moving through cultural, historical, and geographical landscapes and places, whether physically or imaginatively, travel writing is an important source for locating the sites of exchange, and for finding out where and how cultures negotiate and segregate.