Of the travellers’ sociability in The National Archives’ collections

Événement organisé par Marion Amblard (ILCEA4 & Pléiade, UGA), Jessica Nelson (TNA) & Sabrina Juillet Garzon (Pléiade & ILCEA4, USPN) dans le cadre des activités du GIS Sociabilités et de l'axe "Migrations, frontières et relations internationales" de l'ILCEA4.

[en anglais]

The aim of this seminar is to study the sociability practices of travellers during the long eighteenth century and their perceptions of these practices in a foreign context by drawing on any types of written testimonies or material culture relating to travel. 

During their travels undertaken for a wide variety of reasons, travellers regardless of their gender, age, class, origin had to interact with the Other and the unknown. The documents held in The National Archives’ collections that may be used for this seminar will provide an opportunity to question the ways in which travellers perceived foreign societies, and how they reacted to the practices of sociability of the Other, whether or not they accepted to comply with them. 

This seminar is part of the activities of the “Sociability and Travel” strand of the GIS Sociabilités. It is jointly organised by two research centres - ILCEA4 (Grenoble Alpes University), Pléiade (Sorbonne Paris Nord University) - and The National Archives (Kew).