From Exoticism to Authenticity
Textbooks during French Colonization and the Modern Literature of Global Tourism
in Historical Reflections/Réflexions Historiques
Abstract
This article explores the French fascination with “the primitive” and “the exotic” in the post–World War I years through a study of representations of the French colonies in textbooks intended for primary and secondary schoolchildren. It then compares these representations with contemporary French-anguage tourist literature in Ontario, Canada, demonstrating continuities between these “exotic” representations of the colonial other and contemporary discourses centered on “authenticity” in the world of international tourism.
Contributor Notes
Claudine Moïse is Professor of Sociolinguistics, Université Grenoble Alpes, Laboratoire Lidilem.
Translated by Francine Tolron, Professor Emeritus, L ‘Université d ‘Avignon et des Pays de Vaucluse.
