Signifying the small nation: the role of tourists in Luxembourgish national identity, 1913–1940

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis article explores the meaning of the tourist presence in the discursive construction of Luxembourg as a nation during the first part of the twentieth century. The Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg, a small territory surrounded by the major European powers France, Belgium and Germany, gained independence in the nineteenth century. The attribution of sovereignty made the invention of the nation imperative and landscape writing became instrumental in developing the ideological rootedness essential to the construction of national identity. Batty Weber (1860–1940), the most prolific contemporary writer, actively sought to shape the image of the independent Luxembourg both on a national and international level, drawing on the tourist industry as a means of acquiring national self-knowledge and self-respect. His assessments and suggestions for improvement regarding the practicalities of the tourist experience are of vital importance as they illustrate the process of creating places for foreign visitors and local residents alike. He further posited the imagined gaze of the tourist as the gaze the locals should adopt and advocated the ‘spatial practices’ (De Certeau) of visitors to be emulated in the enactment of nationhood.