"Spain is a Contradiction": Katharine Lee Bates' Quest for Modernity in Spanish Highways and Byways

This article explores Katharine Lee Bates' travel book Spanish Highways and Byways (1900), written out of a collection of commissioned articles published in the New York Times immediately after the Spanish-American War. Her travelogue not only provides the reader with details about the Spanish...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inWomen's writing : the Elizabethan to Victorian period Vol. 31; no. 4; pp. 536 - 551
Main Author Prieto, Sara
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Abingdon Routledge 01.10.2024
Taylor & Francis Ltd
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Summary:This article explores Katharine Lee Bates' travel book Spanish Highways and Byways (1900), written out of a collection of commissioned articles published in the New York Times immediately after the Spanish-American War. Her travelogue not only provides the reader with details about the Spanish architectural and natural landscape, but it also works as an instructive text to comment on the social and political panorama of Spain at a time of national crisis. Following the path initiated by Alberto Egea in "Rewriting Stereotypes on Spain: Unveiling the Counter-Picturesque in Katharine Lee Bates" (2019), I argue that Spanish Highways and Byways describes the creation of an emerging modern Spain, influenced by the intellectual movements that shaped Spanish politics of the fin-du-siècle. Bates' text is key to understand the Spanish-American War and its effects on the Spanish population; more importantly, it shows the author's engagement in aspects such as the education of women or workers' rights. In my discussion, I examine how Bates negotiates with her position as an American outsider in Spain and how she takes advantage of this position to build bridges between the two nations at a time of conflict.t
ISSN:0969-9082
1747-5848
DOI:10.1080/09699082.2023.2286754