"Between History and Romance unravels the conventions, voices, discourses, and gender issues embedded in the American travel texts on Spain written during the first three decades of the nineteenth century.

It demonstrates that, even though Washington Irving's sojourn in Spain from 1826 until 1829 marked a distinct shift in the literary commodification of things Spanish, the transition from an enlightened to a romantic representation of Spain was a process triggered by a group of writers who produced Spanish travel narratives of lasting influence.

The present book focuses on this group of writers and, drawing on the production and reception of their work, shows how they turned principally to history and romance, among many other rhetorical conventions, to render didactic and hedonistic narratives of Spain that exposed not only their own experiences but also the collective concerns of Americans at home and abroad."--BOOK JACKET.