VIAJERAS

Hispanic Itineraries: French and British Women Travellers in Spain (19^th-20^th centuries)

The project entitled “Hispanist Itineraries: French and British Women Travelers in Spain (19th-20th Centuries)” includes four members: two principal researchers, Pere Gifra Adroher (Universitat Pompeu Fabra) and Ivanne Galant (Université Sorbonne Paris Nord), as well as two faculty-researchers from the Universitat de les Illes Balears, Isabelle Bes Hoghton and Eduard Moyà.

The primary objective of this project is to deepen the study of travel literature about Spain written by women in the 19th and 20th centuries. On the one hand, it aims to analyze Franco-Spanish cultural relations through the touristic, artistic, and linguistic interactions present in the writings of French travelers. On the other hand, this analysis will be expanded by comparing the perspectives of French and British women travelers. The goal is to update and revise analyses of canonical travelers (George Sand, Joséphine de Brinckmann, Jane Dieulafoy, among others) while also giving attention to previously overlooked texts. This corpus will allow for an exploration of the construction of feminine imaginary spaces, the exotic view of otherness, the chosen itineraries —whether classical or alternative— and the contribution of these narratives to a tourist discourse. Finally, it seeks to study the links between travel literature and academic Hispanism, through the networks, connections, and personal relationships of the travelers.

The first academic event organized took place on October 4, 2024. Under the title “Hospitality and Inhospitality in the Accounts of French and British Women Travelers in Spain”, this event aimed to explore the manifestations of hospitality, and even inhospitality, as reported in the travelers’ accounts. Particular attention was paid to the main elements that contributed to the literary construction of Spain as a hospitable or inhospitable country: commercial aspects, tourist spaces, material culture, intersections between ethics, religion, and hospitality, as well as gender discourses of the women travelers.

https://www.casadevelazquez.org/news/hospitalite-et-inhospitalite-dans-les-recits-des-voyageuses-francaises-et-britanniques-en-espagne

A first monographic dossier has been accepted for publication in the journal Rassegna Iberistica (https://edizionicafoscari.it//it/edizioni/riviste/rassegna-iberistica/).

Partners institutions:

- Universitat Pompeu Fabra

Projet coordinators:

- Ivanne GALANT (Université Sorbonne Paris Nord)

- Pere GIFRA ADROHER (Universitat Pompeu Fabra)

Team members:

- Pere Gifra Adroher (Universitat Pompeu Fabra)

- Ivanne Galant (Université Sorbonne Paris Nord)

- Isabelle Bes Hoghton (Universitat de les Illes Balears)

- Eduard Moyà (Universitat de les Illes Balears)