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Title
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Not for weaker vessels? Travel and gender in the early modern Low Countries
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Author
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Abstract
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| Until recently, early modern travel was often portrayed as an all-male activity, yet a more subtle, gendered reality was uncovered by trailblazing British research. In this chapter, Flemish and Dutch travel journals will be analysed to provide a fresh perspective. From the late seventeenth century onwards, female travellers were no longer frowned upon in the Low Countries, as they cropped up in ever growing numbers on plaisierreijsjes (leisure trips) and somertogjes (summer trips). Their elbowroom was limited, however, both literally – Netherlandish women rarely if ever travelled beyond the familiar horizon of the Northern and Southern Netherlands and the rim of nearby metropolises – and metaphorically, as male chaperones – husbands, fathers, brothers, nephews, and other relatives – held sway over these mixed parties. Most of these men also kept a firm grip on the quill and inkwell, which makes it difficult to assess whether women really travelled differently. Female companions were usually portrayed as fearful and fretful, thereby serving as the ideal set-off to emphasize masculine values of hardiness, stamina, and level-headedness. Apparently, these family trips and somertogjes were also used as an instrument to mould a male identity. Yet, travel journals written by Netherlandish women, such as Adriana de la Court, also suggest that these differences between male and female travel behaviour were all too often rather discourse than reality. Adriana engaged in all sorts of activities – sampling baroque art treasures, assessing industrial plants, and enjoying sublime landscapes – which were often deemed as exclusively male. |
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Language
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English
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Source (book)
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Gender, Companionship, and Travel. Discourses in pre-modern and modern travel literature / Meens F. & Sintobin T. [edit.]
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Publication
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London
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Routledge
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2019
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ISBN
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978-1-138-57992-7
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Volume/pages
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p. 66-78
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