The project [...] investigates the thesis that travel writing is a fundamental medium in the process of the major political and social changes in Europe from the late 18th to the middle of the 19th century. In particular, the processes of the formation of collective national identities and cultures as well as the process of the formation of the middle class with its emphasis on the individual’s identity are implicitly depicted, performed and negotiated in travel writing of the period.

The growing popularity of travel writing at the time underlines its increased social and political importance. Furthermore, the socio-political functions of the genre are displayed in its changed form and content: from the late 18th century, travel writing increasingly changes from scientific reports to more entertaining literary forms. What is more, the particular features of the genre with regard to form and content (such as the oscillation between fact and fiction, inter- and meta-textuality and multilingualism) correspond to its multiple functions.