The French Imaginary in North America. The Genesis of a Distinctive Tourism of Quebec and New Orleans

An analysis of 19th-century tourist guides, specifically Bourne & Smillie's (1829), Cockburne's (1831), & Hawkins's (1834) guides to Quebec & Benjamin Norman's (1845) guide to New Orleans, is undertaken to demonstrate how such guides transformed their subjects into desirable landscapes & repositories for the collective North American memories of all things French. Tourism is discussed as an activity limited primarily to the period's elites, & the way guides' authors created a code for romantically describing touristic destinations is considered. Specific attention is given to the creation of New Orleans's Old Quarter ambiance & Quebec's Old City ambiance, understandings of these places that persist to today. It is concluded that the contemporary tourist seeking the French experience in Quebec & New Orleans actually experiences an interior landscape that reflects a past that has ceased to exist, if it ever existed at all. 41 References. D. Weibel