EMECC-EHRC-GHCC Joint Seminar: No Country for Travellers? British Visitors to Spain and Portugal, 1760-1820

EMECC-EHRC-GHCC Joint Seminar: No Country for Travellers? British Visitors to Spain and Portugal, 1760-1820

Talk by Roey Sweet (Leicester), chaired by Nathalie Hanley-Smith.  Thursday, Dec. 5th, from 12:00 to 13:00 (UK time)
University of Warwick, Humanities Research Center, OC0.04 Faculty of Arts Building and on MS Teams

This paper arises from my recent Leverhulme Research Project ‘War, travel and cultural exchange: William Gell and the British in Iberia, c. 1760–1820’ and reflects on some of the limitations of the ‘Grand Tour’ as a framework through which to understand European travel. An undue emphasis upon Italy as the ultimate destination of European travel occludes the significance of other regions, whilst the enduring stereotype of the aristocratic Grand Tourist overshadows the experiences of those who were from different social backgrounds, age brackets and from the opposite sex. Traditionally, historians have assumed that there was little to draw the traveller to Iberia and that the enduring power of the Black Legend served to discourage most travellers. Thus, Spain (and Portugal are routinely passed over in silence in studies of European travel on the grounds that they were not part of the ‘Grand Tour’. However, with my colleague Richard Ansell, our research shows that there was considerably greater interest in Spain than is popularly assumed – both in terms of the numbers of travellers who visited the country and in terms of the appetite for descriptions of Spain, its people, landscapes, literature and history. This paper will provide an overview of British perceptions and representations of Spain in the period before the Romantic ‘discovery’ of Spain, focusing on some of the key stereotypes which became popularised in this period (such as the fandango and the bull fight).  It will explore how representations of Spain emphasised its alterity as well as recognising its centrality to European history and modern European culture.

If you wish to register and receive a MS Teams link, please email Naomi Pullin (naomi.pullin@warwick.ac.uk)