The Travel Narratives of Ella Maillart: (En)gendering the Quest

Ella Maillart traveled throughout Asia in the 1930s and 1940s and wrote fascinating travel books about her experiences. Her books, once best sellers in French and English, have since fallen into the margins of literary studies. The Travel Narratives of Ella Maillart: (En)Gendering the Quest offers an in-depth analysis of Maillart’s travel narratives in the context of colonial and postcolonial theory and gender studies. Sara Steinert Borella’s comparative study focuses on competing modes of discourse, modes of transport, and the dual nature of the journey. Her critical analysis explores questions of gender, genre, and nationality as she inscribes Ella Maillart onto the map of twentieth-century travel writers.