Astrid Köhler (Queen Mary University of London)

The Travelling European: Towards a Cultural History of Travel

The vast majority of what is known as travel literature is written by and for those who have already decided to travel. In this paper, I shall take a step back and ask some more fundamental questions of the travelling European: I shall consider who gets to travel when and why, how different modes of transport impact on the traveller’s perception and world view, what the relationship is between those who travel and those who stay put and to what metaphorical uses the notion of travel has been put by either. In short: the aim of this paper is to examine both travel as a cultural practice and the cultural practice of travel.

Astrid Köhler is Professor of German Literature and Comparative Cultural Studies at Queen Mary University of London. Her research interests lie in the fields of Contemporary German Literature and 19th century German Culture. Currently, she is one of four principal investigators in the HERA funded project The European Spa as a Transnational Public Space and Social Metaphor.