The image of Spain in National Geographic Magazine (1888-1936)

Abstract

National Geographic Magazine is by far the most worldwide known geographical magazine and, for more than a century, has been an international point of reference both within photojournalism and the so-called “popular geographies”. Moreover, although National Geographic Magazine almost entirely ignore the work of academic geographers, it has widely contributed to inform not only geography’s public image, but also the way its readers (specially the North-American ones) perceive the world, its cultures and landscapes. This paper analyzes, from a geographic perspective, the image of Spain in this popular magazine since its foundation until 1936. It addresses the following questions: the theoretical and methodological basis of this research; the role of National Geographical Magazine in shaping popular geographical imaginations; the image of Spain in the United States in the transition from the 19th century into the 20th century; and the main geographical aspects of the image of Spain in the aforementioned magazine, with special attention to representations of the country’s landscapes and regional diversity, as well as to the tourist dimensions and possible consequences of these representations.