Jordan Girardin Phd Thesis

TRAVEL IN THE ALPS: THE CONSTRUCTION OF A TRANSNATIONAL SPACE THROUGH DIGITAL AND MENTAL MAPPING (1750S – 1830S) Jordan Girardin A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of St Andrews 2016 Full metadata for this item is available in St Andrews Research Repository at: http://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/ Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10023/10648 This item is protected by original copyright This item is licensed under a Creative Commons Licence Travel in the Alps: the construction of a transnational space through digital and mental mapping (1750s – 1830s) Jordan Girardin This thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree of Ph.D. at the University of St Andrews 16th August 2016 Abstract The period between the 1750s and 1830s witnessed a major change in travel practices in Europe, moving away from the traditional Grand Tour and focusing more on natural places, their visual power, and their influence on individual emotions. Such changes meant that the Alps ceased to be seen as a natural obstacle that had to be crossed in order to access Italy, and became a place to explore and a mountainous space par excellence. This thesis addresses the importance of mental mapping in travel literature and its impact on the construction of the Alps as a transnational space, which eventually facilitated the creation of a viable touristic market in the Alps as we know it today. The first part of the thesis analyses the transformation of the Alps from a natural frontier to a border region explored by travellers and their networks. The second part discusses the consequences of these changes on mental mapping and spatial representations of the Alps by travellers: it highlights the way external visitors often had very subjective interpretations of what the Alps meant as a term and a place, and conveyed those to other travellers through travel writing. Finally, the third part of this work investigates the development of an Alpine myth as a product of these shifting mental representations: the Alps became a set of expectations, typical images, and encounters to be expected. ii 1. Candidate’s declarations: I, Jordan Girardin, hereby certify that this thesis, which is approximately 79,978 words in length, has been written by me, and that it is the record of work carried out by me, or principally by myself in collaboration with others as acknowledged, and that it has not been submitted in any previous application for a higher degree. I was admitted as a research student in September 2013 and as a candidate for the degree of Ph.D. in Modern History in August 2014; the higher study for which this is a record was carried out in the University of St Andrews between 2013 and 2016. Date _____________________ signature of candidate _____________________ 2. Supervisor’s declaration: I hereby certify that the candidate has fulfilled the conditions of the Resolution and Regulations appropriate for the degree of _________________________________________ in the University of St Andrews and that the candidate is qualified to submit this thesis in application for that degree. Date _____________________signature of supervisor _____________________ 3. Permission for publication: (to be signed by both candidate and supervisor) In submitting this thesis to the University of St Andrews I understand that I am giving permission for it to be made available for use in accordance with the regulations of the University Library for the time being in force, subject to any copyright vested in the work not being affected thereby. I also understand that the title and the abstract will be published, and that a copy of the work may be made and supplied to any bona fide library or research worker, that my thesis will be electronically accessible for personal or research use unless exempt by award of an embargo as requested below, and that the library has the right to migrate my thesis into new electronic forms as required to ensure continued access to the thesis. I have obtained any third-party copyright permissions that may be required in order to allow such access and migration, or have requested the appropriate embargo below. The following is an agreed request by candidate and supervisor regarding the publication of this thesis: PRINTED COPY a) No embargo on print copy b) Embargo on all or part of print copy for a period of … years (maximum five) on the following ground(s): • Publication would be commercially damaging to the researcher, or to the supervisor, or the University • Publication would preclude future publication • Publication would be in breach of laws or ethics c) Permanent or longer term embargo on all or part of print copy for a period of … years (the request will be referred to the Pro-Provost and permission will be granted only in exceptional circumstances). Supporting statement for printed embargo request: iii ELECTRONIC COPY a) No embargo on electronic copy b) Embargo on all or part of electronic copy for a period of … years (maximum five) on the following ground(s): • Publication would be commercially damaging to the researcher, or to the supervisor, or the University • Publication would preclude future publication • Publication would be in breach of law or ethics c) Permanent or longer term embargo on all or part of electronic copy for a period of … years (the request will be referred to the Pro-Provost and permission will be granted only in exceptional circumstances). Supporting statement for electronic embargo request: Date ____________ signature of candidate ______________ signature of supervisor ______________ Please note initial embargos can be requested for a maximum of five years. An embargo on a thesis submitted to the Faculty of Science or Medicine is rarely granted for more than two years in the first instance, without good justification. The Library will not lift an embargo before confirming with the student and supervisor that they do not intend to request a continuation. In the absence of an agreed response from both student and supervisor, the Head of School will be consulted. Please note that the total period of an embargo, including any continuation, is not expected to exceed ten years. Where part of a thesis is to be embargoed, please specify the part and the reason. iv Acknowledgements Out of all the fantastic travels that I have studied in this thesis, my personal journey over the last three years was certainly the most eventful and rewarding. I have learnt an awful lot as a doctoral candidate: about my topic, about academia, about travel, and above all about myself. I am deeply grateful to so many people for being part of this adventure with me, and I will gladly spend some of my word count thanking them one more time for their incredible contribution. First and foremost I must dearly thank Dr Bernhard Struck for being the supervisor anyone should hope for. I am grateful for our early discussions during my master’s programme at St Andrews, and for the three years that resulted from that afterwards. His availability, knowledge, interest, and enthusiasm kept me going throughout this tumultuous journey and I will always be thankful for that. I will always regard St Andrews as my academic home, the place where I found the support any early scholar should need. I therefore have to also thank all the other academics who at some point helped me improve either my personal research or myself as a researcher: I am thinking about Dr Sarah Easterby-Smith, Dr Konrad Lawson, Dr Tomasz Kamusella, Professor Richard Whatmore, and all the other staff members and fellow postgraduates with whom I engaged in diverse discussions. I also owe an awful lot to Ms Elsie Johnstone, Ms Jennifer Todd, Ms Melanie Forbes, and Ms Lorna Harris from the School of History’s administration who all made my time as a Ph.D. student as smooth and well-organised as possible. Beyond all these fantastic colleagues I must also thank the University of St Andrews and the School of History in general, and all the people who decided to award me a very generous 600th Anniversary Scholarship, without which I never could have undertaken this project. Whilst I was travelling across the Alps to find more local sources, many scholars and institutions gave me very valuable local support. Firstly, I am deeply grateful to the University of Basel and its Graduate School of History, who invited me into their department in the autumn of 2014, gave me access to their facilities, and truly made me feel part of their community. Within that department, my special thanks goes to Professor Martin Lengwiler and Dr Roberto Sala who supported and facilitated my time in Basel. When I was not in Basel, I was often happily seated on a train – many of you will know this is something I would never mind doing – and I met many helpful people in the destinations I reached. In Lucerne, Professor Jon Mathieu was an incredible point of contact who gave me the empirical support that I needed, and I will ever be grateful for that and for his participation in my viva voce panel. In Mendrisio, after a breath-taking train journey through the St Gotthard, I was lucky enough to spend a fascinating lunch with Professor Luigi Lorenzetti. I thank him for his advice and for his invitation to the Association internationale pour l’Histoire des Alpes’s twentieth anniversary conference. In Neuchâtel, a Swiss city that is dear to my family and me, Professor Patrick Vincent brought his passion for travel literature into my historical work: I am thanking him very much for our discussions over a meal or by e- mail.

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