America Day by Day
The journal of Beauvoir's 1947 American journey combines encounters, landscapes, universities and observations of racial and social hierarchies.
Understanding the text
The narrative reshapes travel experience and records a visitor's position, including discoveries and limitations.
Key points
- 01
Segregation
Proclaimed freedoms are tested against institutions and experiences of discrimination.
- 02
Encounters
Richard Wright and other interlocutors alter the traveler's perspective.
- 03
Modernity
Consumption, work and solitude unsettle simplified European images of America.
How to read it
Track places and interlocutors; compare situated observations with generalizations about the whole country.
Editions & sources
- Consult the reference 1plato.stanford.edunew tab
- Consult the reference 2iep.utm.edunew tab
- Consult the reference 3gallimard.frnew tab
Summaries and key points are original editorial interpretations. They accompany reading the work and do not replace an edition of the text. Editorial method ↗