Description
A Multitude of Emotions
Book Summary
This monograph brings to light the unpublished 1920 travel diary of artist and sculptor Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, offering a comprehensive analysis of her cultural and emotional immersion in early 20th-century Spain. Through a rigorous study that combines the history of emotions with literary criticism, the book unveils how the author interprets the country in an artistic and personal key, blending descriptions of monuments and landscapes with her own reactions and introspections. The reader will find a valuable intellectual, sensory, and emotional approach to a key figure of American art, complemented by the complete translation of the original manuscript.
What is it about?
The book explores the Spain 1920 manuscript, where Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney described her journey from Paris to the south of Spain, visiting Irún, Madrid, Cordoba, Seville, Malaga, and Granada. Beyond a simple travelogue, the work analyzes how the artist reveals her identity through her reactions and interpretations, using the diary as a process of introspection. The study is supported by critical guidelines from emotionology (Stearns), the history of emotions (Rosenwein and Cristiani), and the role of emotions in writing (Knaller). It reveals a journey where actions and feelings mingle with ideas about art and creation, highlighting the elements of inspiration and emotion that Whitney found in Spain and that would accompany her for the rest of her life.
Main themes
- History of emotions and emotionology applied to travel literature.
- Analysis of the personal diary as a genre of introspection and identity construction.
- Cultural and artistic immersion of a cosmopolitan traveler in early 20th-century Spain.
- Relationship between art, creation, inspiration, and sensory experience.
- Study of the figure of Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney as an artist and patron.
Who is it recommended for?
This book is aimed at researchers and students of travel literature, cultural history, gender studies, and art history. It will also be of great interest to readers passionate about intimate diaries, the figure of Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, and the analysis of emotional experience in historical contexts. It is a work recommended for those seeking a rigorous academic study that combines literary criticism, social history, and emotional analysis.
What this book contributes
- Access to an unpublished travel diary of a key figure in American art, translated and annotated.
- A solid theoretical framework that integrates the history of emotions into the analysis of autobiographical texts.
- A detailed vision of the artistic and personal perception of Spain in 1920 through the eyes of a cultured traveler.
- Understanding of how sensory and emotional experiences influence an artist's creative process.
- Reference material for academic studies on travel, emotions, and women's writing.
Technical specifications
- Author: Losada Friend, Maria
- Publisher: Universidad de Huelva
- Language: English
- Subject: Prose: non-fiction, literary essays, literary studies: c 1900-, social and cultural history
- Collection: Arias Montano
- Binding: Paperback
- Publication date: July 2023
- Number of pages: 170
- Weight: 371 g
Editorial review
This monograph represents a significant contribution to the study of travel literature and the history of emotions. Its main value lies in the publication and analysis of an unpublished manuscript, offering an original perspective on the experience of an American artist in Spain. The academic approach, supported by an updated theoretical framework, makes it a reference work for specialists, while the translation of the diary makes it accessible to a wider audience interested in the intersection between art, travel, and emotion.