Namaeh Farhangistan

Namaeh Farhangistan

Paris at the Crossroads of Travelogues in the Second Half of the 19th Century: From the Geography of the Real to the Geography of the Imaginary

Document Type : Original Article

Author
Narjes Abdollahinejad
PhD student in French Literature, Department of French Language and Literature, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
10.22034/nf.2026.548141.1462
Abstract
Geocriticism is an approach within comparative literature that examines the interaction between geographical spaces and their representation in literary texts. This geocentric methodology places the location at the center of analysis, exploring diverse perspectives surrounding a place by utilizing the principle of multifocalization. Travelogues serve as some of the richest sources for reflecting referential spaces; in this context, a constant tension exists between actual referential locations and the mental images held by travel writers. Just as the geography of the real and urban maps are instrumental in understanding a location, the geography of the imaginary and mental imagery play a constructive and complementary role. Paris has featured prominently in numerous travelogues, represented by authors through endogenous, exogenous, and allogenous perspectives. Drawing upon Bertrand Westphal's geocritical theories and focusing on the perspectives of both French and non-French travel writers from diverse cultural backgrounds, this article analyzes the depiction of Paris in four travelogues spanning the second half of the 19th century to the early 20th century: A Foreigner’s Impressions of Paris: visiting the universal exhibition in 1855, The Travelogue of Hadj Sayyah to Europe, Paris Travel Diaries and Travelogue of Bukhara’s treasures. This study investigates the textual layers formed around the principal nodes that constitute the city’s image in the narrative world, as well as the dynamics of human spaces within their intertextual relations. Furthermore, it examines how these writers interact with Paris through polysensory experiences and stratigraphic mapping.
Keywords
Geocriticism
Travelogue
Multifocalization
City
Paris
Subjects
References
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Namaeh Farhangistan
Volume 25, Issue 2 - Serial Number 102
Nemeh Farhangestan (Comparative Literature)
May and June 2026
Pages 115-132

  • Receive Date 21 September 2025
  • Accept Date 29 December 2025