Qatar National Library organised a symposium exploring the often-overlooked contributions of women to the genre of travel literature. Bringing together leading researchers and academics, the event examined how female travellers from the 19th and early 20th centuries used travel—and the literature it inspired—as a means of personal empowerment, self-discovery and the reimagining of prevailing social norms.
Titled ‘Women’s Travel Literature: Journeys Through Female Eyes—Between the Real and the Imagined’, the symposium highlighted the distinctive voices of female travellers who documented their encounters with the East during an era when women were often excluded from the traditional literary canon.
The event featured presentations by a distinguished group of international scholars, including Dr. Falestin Naili (University of Basel, Switzerland), Dr. Leila Jabri (Institute of Heritage, Tunisia), Dr. Soundouss El-Ketani (Royal Military College of Canada), and Dr. Nadia Riahi (University of Tunis). Each offered valuable insights into the lives and legacies of women like Hilma Granqvist, Princess Therese of Bavaria, Cristina Belgiojoso, and Isabelle Eberhardt—figures who contributed to the understanding of cultural “otherness” through their travel writings, artistic works and ethnographic observations.
Dr. Moez Dridi, senior archives specialist at Qatar National Library, opened the symposium with a general introduction that set the stage for exploring how travel allowed women to question identity, engage with themes of social justice and construct new relationships between gender, space and cultural boundaries.
“The writings of these women offer an overlooked but profoundly enriching perspective on both travel and the shaping of Orientalism,” said Dr. Dridi. “They invite us to revisit history through a female lens, one that challenges dominant narratives and uncovers new dimensions of intercultural understanding,” he added.
The symposium invited attendees to reflect on whether female Orientalism exists—developed in the same historical period as its male counterpart—through the lived experiences and intellectual contributions of women travellers, archaeologists and ethnologists who engaged with distant lands in transformative ways.
