Trip to Algeria

Rarely has French literature seen a writer with such a multiplicity of tendencies as Théophile Gautier and the diversity of literary and intellectual styles he practiced, leaving behind more than one captivating and highly influential work in each. He was a poet, novelist, short story writer, playwright, and critic, known for his skillful follow-ups on new literature and arts, and for his famous travel stories that make the reader see his unique and profound perspective on the countries he visits, east and west, as well as his sensitive follow-ups on the literary and artistic works dedicated to these countries. Gautier visited Algeria in the summer of 1845, and published about his trip there in scattered magazine pages that he only compiled into a book in 1865. It seems that, at the same time as he aims to give us an exciting and attractive journey through the country, he also promises us a pictorial journey, drawing with words visual scenes and lived moments, preferring this over the usual sentimental descriptions of strange spaces and their inhabitants. Gautier always expresses in his travels a love for details, meaningful details he was keen to observe and accustomed to capturing with sensitivity. In this journey, he compares the streets of Algeria and Paris, and draws parallels between Algerian places and scenes painted by Goya, Rembrandt, and Delacroix.