DU COTÉ DE CHEZ SOI

Abstract

The trip to Holland in the nineteenth-century is inscribed in a long tradition resonant with the notions of liberty, tolerance, and commerce, but it also takes on a certain specificity given the importance of the figure of “at-homeness” or chez soi. The Netherlands were seen as a gracious land where the French traveller felt at ease and where he considered the appealing possibility of living. From this perspective, Proust is doing nothing new when, in la Recherche, he dreams of a “domestic life” in Holland. For the French traveller in the nineteenth century, the Netherlands indeed represent a “home sweet home.”