CONTEXT | des9miquel

El context

Sebastià Vidal, mestre jubilat

El diari de l'expedició és un document d'interès indubtable pels seus valors testimonials i memorialístics sobre la realitat de l'entorn geogràfic pel qual navegaren i que visitaren, o pel context històric, econòmic i social en el qual s'inserí el discurs narratiu. Els trets d'anecdotari que traspuen molts dels paràgrafs de la crònica empelten també un valor emocional, sentimental, que va més enllà dels valors objectius que assignam a la informació que ens aporta: és una història de vida d'un grup de persones durant el temps breu que compartiren a bord del San Miguel per fer un viatge de turisme al voltant de la seva pròpia terra aquell estiu de 1899. Aquest fet, precisament, ens regala als lectors del segle XXI un valor més, afegit, atès què es tracta de literatura de viatges escrita des de la perspectiva sociocultural dels autòctons.

Miquel Clar ens descriu a la seva crònica la realitat viscuda pels expedicionaris de la volta a Mallorca en el llaüt San Miguel amb ulls i ment d'un viatger pel seu propi país en aquell context sociocultural i històric. Aquesta circumstància ens ofereix l'oportunitat de fer un viatge interior cap a una reflexió profunda sobre la realitat del turisme a Mallorca avui en dia.

Set of handwritten documents with information about how the expedition was planned and details of how it developed.

Journal or chronicle of the expedition. Some of the most significant paratextual elements of the document can be seen in the picture.

English edition of "Letters from Majorca", by Charles W Wood (1888).

Spanish translation of George Sand’s book ["A Winter in Majorca"] "Un Invierno en Mallorca". The translation was by Pere Estelrich, with a prologue by Gabriel Alomar (in the photo, the 1932 edition published by J Tous).

Detail of the entrance to the former Can Clar residence in Carrer de s’Aljub, Santanyí

Front page of the "La Almudaina" newspaper from 26 July 1889.

Inside the Caves of Drac according to a print in Gaston Vuillier’s "The Forgotten Isles".

Volume of the Caves of Artà visitors’ book corresponding to the period when they were visited by the expeditioners on the "San Miguel" (courtesy of the Caves of Artà).

Drawing by Fausto Morell, a tribute to the foreign tourist, on the opening page of the volume of the Caves of Artà visitors’ book corresponding to the period when they were visited by the expeditioners on the "San Miguel"(courtesy of the Caves of Artà).

On the left-hand page, glosa [a type of popular poetry] by the purser, Llorenç Bonet, and signatures of the rest of the expeditioners on the San Miguel in the volume of the Caves of Artà visitors’ book corresponding to the period when they were visited by the expeditioners on the "San Miguel" (courtesy of the Caves of Artà).

Glosa by Llorenç Bonet and signatures of the rest of the expeditioners on the "San Miguel" in the Caves of Artà visitors’ book (courtesy of the Caves of Artà).

Print of the walls of Alcúdia according to CW Wood. Included in his book "Letters from Majorca" (1888).

Sóller with the silhouette of the Puig Major in the background. Print included in CW Wood’s book "Letters from Majorca" (1888).

Ca Madò Pilla’s hostelry according to the illustration included in CW Wood’s book "Letters from Majorca" (1888).

Copy of "L'illa de la calma", by Santiago Rusiñol (1905).

English edition of "The Forgotten Isles", by Gaston Vuillier (1897).

Spanish translation of Joseph-Bonaventure Laurens’ book ["Souvenirs d’un voyage d’art a l’île de Majorque"] "Recuerdos de un Viaje Artístico a la Isla de Mallorca" (1971).

Print of Palma from the Port according to CW Wood. Included in his book "Letters from Majorca" (1888).

Group photograph with some of the members of the Gremi [Guild] who took part in the expedition: first on the left, standing, is Marc Vidal, the storekeeper. Also first on the left, seated, is Llorenç Bonet, the purser. Second from the right, standing, is the chronicler, Fr Miquel Clar

In the family photograph, the adult seated is the captain of the "San Miguel", Jaume Antic Cavallot.

Group photograph with some of the expeditioners: seated, on the far right, Jaume Antoni Clar Vicens (?). Standing, second on the left is the storekeeper, Marc Vidal; third is the purser, Llorenç Bonet.

Vicenç Mandilego and his wife ran the tavern known as Can Mandilego when the expeditioners were there. A short time afterwards, he moved the business to Son Bauló (Can Picafort), where his son Jaume was born. Jaume carried on the business and became quite an institution around those parts (photo courtesy of Joan Mandilego).