Even during their journey through the USA, Tocqueville and Beaumont enthusiastically discussed how they would compile their impressions and observations of America into a “great work” (Beaumont 1973, 45, 51, 92). In doing so, both initially oriented themselves towards the American literature of the 1820s – always in search of a suitable language and their own forms of representation. Tocqueville’s literary works, which fluctuate between travel reports and travel narratives, still bear witness to this today.