Space Narrativisation in the First Travel Guides around the Urals

Abstract

This article is devoted to the role of the first Ural travel guides in the general process of the formation of geo-cultural image of the Urals. The author refers to guidebooks from between 1899 and 1904 prepared by the famous Ural journalist V. A. Vesnovsky, which became the first attempt at a holistic description of the region addressed to the general reader. The article focuses on the techniques of space narrativisation, which are actively used by guidebooks, unlike reference books. Narrativisation is seen in its functional aspect: as a way to engage the audience through an emotionally told story. J. Bruner’s idea of the dual landscape of narrative: the landscape of action and the landscape of consciousness is used as the main methodological approach. The analysis reveals the main subject areas of narrativisation in guidebooks, as well as the psychological effects of the stories presented. It is revealed that the narrativisation of space occurs at different levels of the guide: at the level of macrostructure, it is implemented in the travel route, while at the level of content — in the description of attractions, which are the basis of any guide. The discursive narrative methods are methods of the emotional engagement of the reader: reportage description inviting to joint observation and dynamic panoramic vision borrowed from travel essays; an appeal to the reader’s personal experience, as well as dramatisation of the narrative associated with a focus on the characters who act and feel. In the long run, it is concluded that the first Ural travel guides were actively involved in the processes of combining the geo-cultural values of Ural space, proposing subjects for its holistic reading and a variety of involving narratives dedicated to individual locations.