The Bicycle Goes to War Bicycle Travelogues in 1940s France

Changes in mobility during the Second World War result in a renewed interest for the bicycle, which may be seen not only in the everyday life of millions of French people but also in the research on transport system management carried out at that time or in the realm of artistic representations. Combining economic history, semiotics, and literary studies, this article examines travel narratives of the 1940’s in order to understand how the images of transport are shaped in our collective mind.