Mme d’Aulnoy and her contribution to the disrepute of Spain in Europe: Relation du voyage en Espagne (1691)

Abstract

The Normandy-born writer, Marie-Catherine le Jumelle de Barneville (1651-1705), better known as Madame d’Aulnoy in the circles of Arts, published Relation du Voyage en Espagne, in 1691. This book gathers her impressions of a journey to our country, which she probably made between the years 1678 and 1690. The widely known work has been highly praised in the 19th century by French intellectuals, and it seems that it had contributed a great deal to the disrepute of Spain, not only in France but also in other European countries. Apparently, this may be due to various reasons, not a lesser one being the notable hyperbolic character of her discourse at various stages of the work: firstly, her increasing bitterness of character, which some attach to the sudden breaking off of her sentimental relationship to her French guide, as stated in some documents referring to her trip; also, because she did not feel happy with the treatment provided by her foreign peers, whose customs seemed to her too different to those of her own; or perhaps and not less relevantly because of the wide cultural gap existing between the Spaniards and the natives of her own country, in such questions as custom refinement, artificiality in personal treatment and so on.