Seductive Journey – American Tourists in France from Jefferson to the Jazz Age - Hardcover

Levenstein, Harvey

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0226473767 ISBN 13: 9780226473765

Publisher: University of Chicago Press, 1998

Synopsis

This text explains why so many Americans have visited France and tells what they did when they got there. It is an examination of the transformation of American attitudes toward French food, sex and culture; as well as an exploration of changing notions of class, gender, race and nationality.It begins in 1786 when Thomas Jefferson instructed young upper-class American men to travel overseas for self-improvement rather than debauchery. Many men crossed the Atlantic to develop "taste" and refinement, however, the introduction of the transatlantic steamship in the mid-19th century opened France to people further down the class ladder. The text discusses how as the upper class distanced themselves from the lower class travellers, tourism in search of culture gave way to the tourism of "conspicuous leisure", sex and sensuality. In the 1920s, Prohibition in America and a new middle class helped make drunken sprees in Paris more enticing than trudging throught the Louvre, this text examines also the French anti-Americanism that failed to jolt the American ideal, France remaining Americans' favourite destination.

About this title

About the Author:

Harvey Levenstein is professor emeritus of history at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. He has published a number of books on American history, including "Revolution at the Table: The Transformation of the American Diet" and "Paradox of Plenty: A Social History of Eating in Modern America."

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0226473767
• ISBN 13: 9780226473765
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 390