French Literature Reviews - 2026

A. Eche, Representations of Alterity in Abbé Prévost's Histoire générale des voyages
History, Politics and Society

Bibliographical reference: Antoine Eche, Representations of Alterity in Abbé Prévost's Histoire générale des voyages, Le Manuscrit, "Réseau Lumières" collection, 2017. EAN13: 9782304046588.

Abbé Prévost's Histoire générale des voyages, a translation of the English compilation A New General History of Voyages and Travels, filled a gap in the landscape of 18th-century French travel writing. Unlike England, France was lagging behind in producing compilations of this kind. The translation by Abbé Prévost was highly timely, which partly explains its success.

This new inventory of non-European travels in French involves a network of representations, of which the translated layer is only one element. The fact that this translation was produced by Prévost, an established novelist, raises questions: travel literature, after all, primarily demands factual truth. There is also the transposition – or the
translation – of illustrations, which serve as privileged mediators of the "elsewhere." In a society that prioritizes access
to knowledge through observation, their impact is significant, even though it remains inseparable from textual effects.

Focusing on the first seven translated volumes of the Histoire générale des voyages, this study aims to re-examine the work by emphasizing what it primarily is: a translation.

Antoine Eche examines how Abbé Prévost adapted English travel literature for French readers during the Enlightenment. By focusing on the first seven volumes of the Histoire générale des voyages, this study highlights the complexities of translation when applied to non-European geographies. The work addresses the tension between factual truth in travel accounts and the literary sensibilities of an established novelist. It also analyzes the crucial role of visual illustrations as mediators of foreign cultures in a period deeply invested in empirical observation and the dissemination of encyclopedic knowledge.

This scholarly investigation will interest researchers of eighteenth-century French literature, translation studies, and the history of travel writing. It contributes to broader discussions on how Enlightenment Europe constructed its perception of non-European peoples and distant lands. By analyzing the layers of translation and visual transposition, the book helps readers understand the mechanisms through which cultural alterity was framed and consumed in France. It offers valuable insights into the intersection of literature, geography, and editorial practices during the Enlightenment.