India; Tourism, Cultural Construct and Reality in Oleguer Junyent's book Roda el món i torna al Born (Around the World and Back to the Born)

Abstract

In 1908 the Catalan stage designer Oleguer Junyent and his friend Mariano Recolons set off on a trip around the world. They spent eleven months visiting Egypt, India, Australia, China, Japan, Canada and the United States. On his return home Junyent published a book on the journey entitled Roda el món i torna al Born (Around the World and Back to the Born) edited by the magazine Ilustració Catalana.India is one of the countries that features largely in this book, proof of the enormous impression it caused on Junyent. The text is a mixture of personal anecdotes, history lessons, descriptions of places and aesthetic experiences. Judging by the list of places he mentions, it is clear that present-day tourism in India has changed little since the early 20th century, especially as regards the monuments that must be seen. The book is very well illustrated and Junyent has included more pictures of India than any other country. Photographs and drawings depicting landscapes, buildings and people have all been carefully and deliberately chosen.

Keywords

• oleguer junyent
• roda el món i torna al born
• kashmir
• varanasi
• kolkata
• mumbai
• photography
• travel literature