Maria Flavia Maiorano

The research project focuses on odeporic texts written between the second half of the eighteenth century and the first half of the nineteenth century by Italian salonnières and Arcadian poetesses. The selected corpus includes writings, some of which are unpublished, that are highly varied in terms of type: diaries, illustrated volumes, poetic compositions. The journeys recounted in these texts serve an educational function similar to that of the Grand Tour for foreigners, representing the culmination of the educational path these authors undertake in their respective salons and in the Arcadian Academy. In light of such testimonies, the salon and Arcadian environments emerge not only as places of cultural formation but also as privileged centers promoting female mobility. The aim is to uncover and analyze—using investigative methods that range from historical-philological studies to comparative, cultural, and women’s studies—travel writings long neglected by critics. In this way, the project aspires to restore a missing link that will connect Italian female odeporic writing from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to the much better known works of foreign female and male travelers of the Grand Tour.