220028 Exploaring the Empire. Russian Travelogues in the 18th and 19th century (Ü+K) (SoSe 2007)

Travel writing emerged as a highly stylized European literary genre in Early Modern history. Records of 16th and 17th European travellers to Russia had tremendous influence on the perception of Muscovy in the West. It was not before the later half of the 18th century, in the broader context of Russia's "westernisation", that Russian lettrés began to embrace the genre. On the one hand, the course explores the role of Russian travelogues in the development of a Russian national or imperial consciousness, with particular emphasis on the travellers' description and exploration of cultural differences for the emerging stereotypes of "the Russian" in juxtaposition to the Western Europeans. On the other hand, it discusses the importance of travel writing for the construction of "imaginary geographies" of the Russian Empire.

Pre-requisites: no formal pre-requisites except working knowledge of English and a readiness to read and discuss materials in English regularly. The course will consist of lecture and discussion, each participant will be asked to present one traveller and his travelogue before the class.

Literaturangaben

Dickinson, Sarah: Breaking Ground. Travel and National Culture in Russia from Peter I to the Era Pushkin. Amsterdam, New York: Rodopi, 2006