RUBIÉS, Joan-Pau

PERSONAL: Male.

ADDRESSES: Offıce—London School of Economics and Political Science, Room E500, London, England. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Writer. London School of Economics and Political Science, London, England, lecturer.

WRITINGS:

Shifting Cultures: Interaction and Discourse in the Expansion of Europe, Lit (Munster, England), 1995.

(editor, with Jas Elsner) Voyages and Visions: Toward a Cultural History of Travel, Reaktion Books (London, England), 1998.

Travel and Ethnology in the Renaissance: South India through European Eyes, 1250-1625, Cambridge University Press (Cambridge, NY), 2000.

SIDELIGHTS: Joan-Pau Rubiés has written extensively on the history of travel writing and cultural encounters in the early modern period. He specializes in the historiography and political thought of early modern Spain. Rubiés is fluent in four languages, including Catalan, French, Italian, and Spanish.

Voyages and Visions: Towards a Cultural History of Travel attempts to cover virtually the entire history of Western travel from the sixteenth century onwards. Rubiés, along with Jas Elsner, edited the collection to reflect an eclectic mix of styles and conceptual concerns. Peter Bishop reviewed the book for Journal of Historical Geography and wrote, "There is not a single chapter which fails to generate insights and which is built upon careless scholarship. Voyages and Visions is an important and timely contribution to the study of travel." Similarly, Nigel Barley of Journal of Interdisciplinary History wrote, "Voyages and Visionsis a useful and welcome addition to the literature of travel, particularly helpful to the historically challenged who might wish to gain a broader comparative insight into changes discourses of travel over time."

Rubiés followed Voyages and Visions with Travel and Ethnology in the Renaissance: South India through European Eyes, 1250-1625. It is a richly detailed account of political and religious life in medieval South India, drawing on individual narratives of European merchants, missionaries, and adventurers. Rubiés begins with Marco Polo in the thirteenth century and ends with Pietro della Valle in the early seventeenth century. His focus does not rest solely on the better-known authors, but stretches to include previously unpublished works by writers not instantly recognized. Through these various narratives, Rubiés illustrates how travel writing and its contexts was gradually transformed.

Leonard A. Gordon, in his review for Renaissance Quarterly, praised the book: "The analysis of travelers' accounts has emerged within recent decades as a viable scholarly focus, but usually one of modest achievement. However, Dr. Rubiés has transformed this modest field into one of high accomplishment, tying together Europe and India, travelers' accounts with cultural and intellectual history, and spanning medieval, Renaissance, and Enlightenment history."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

periodicals

Choice, October, 2001, G. R. G. Hambly, review of Travel and Ethnology in the Renaissance: South India through European Eyes, 1250-1625,p. 366.

Geographical Magazine,June, 1999, Nick Crane, review of Voyages and Visions: Toward a Cultural History of Travel, p. 93.

Journal of Historical Geography,April, 2001, Peter Bishop, review of Voyages and Visions, pp. 275-277.

Journal of Interdisciplinary History,winter, 2002, David Carment, review of Travel and Ethnology in the Renaissance, p. 516.

Renaissance Quarterly, spring, 2002, Leonard A. Gordon, review of Travel and Ethnology in the Renaissance, pp. 318-319.

Times Higher Education Supplement,June 4, 1999, Nigel Barley, "The Fake with the Pert Rump," pp. 23-24.

other

Cambridge Books Web site,http://www.books.cambridge.org/ (September 6, 2002), reviews of Travel and Ethnology in the Renaissance.

Fathom,http://www.fathom.com/ (September 6, 2002), author profile.

Hinduonnet.com,http://www.hinduonnet.com/ (September 6, 2002), review of Travel and Ethnology in the Renaissance.

Institute of Historical Research Web site,http://www.ihrinfo.ac.uk/ (September 6, 2002), Daud Ali, review of Travel and Ethnology in the Renaissance.

London School of Economics Web site,http://www.lse.ac.uk/ (September 6, 2002), author profile.

Reaktion Books Web site,http://www.reaktionbooks.co.uk/ (September 6, 2002), synopsis of Voyages and Visions.

Vedams Books from India,http://www.vedamsbooks.com/ (September 6, 2002), review of Travel and Ethnology in the Renaissance.*