Travel Notes Research Articles

«СЕФЕРНАМЕ» ИСМАИЛ БЕКА КУТКАШЕНЛЫ КАК ПЕРВОЕ В АЗЕРБАЙДЖАНСКОЙ ЛИТЕРАТУРЕ ПРОИЗВЕДЕНИЕ, НАПИСАННОЕ В ЖАНРЕ «ПУТЕВЫХ ЗАМЕТОК»

Ismail bey Kutkashenli's "Sefername" as the First Work in Azerbaijani Literature Written in the Genre of "Travel Notes" Summary In the article the creative work by outstanding Azerbaijani writer and publicist Ismayil bek Kutkashenli is spoken about. The author of article studied the work “Sefername” by I. Kutkashenli, analysed the main aspects of this work and points out that “Sefername” is the first work , written in genre of travelogue and it can be considered as source of very interesting information about the Hadj and all peculiarities of this pilgrimage, religious rituals and Arabian mode of life. Its also pointed out that all parts of “Sefername” are dedicated to different cities in Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey and Arabian countries. The author also points out that “Sefername” wasn’t paid serious attention by researchers and should be studied from different aspects. Key words: I.Kutkashenli, “Sefername”, travelogue, pilgrimage, genre, Hadj, Middle East

Образ кримськотатарських жінок у подорожніх записках російських і європейських мандрівників кінця XVIII–ХІХ ст.

Образ кримськотатарських жінок у подорожніх записках російських і європейських мандрівників кінця XVIII–ХІХ ст.

A táj és a haza „petőfiesítése”

This paper analyses Petőfi’s Travel Notes which documents his travels in Upper Hungary. It examines Petőfi’s work as a source of identity construction, focusing on the texts creating his own sense of being Hungarian. They show us that taking possession of the national landscape and past comes with the appropriation of some parts of the aristocratic identity.

«Сказание о хождении в Тибет пандита-хамбо-ламы Заяева из цонгольского рода» как источник по истории буддизма

The history of Buddhism and the initial period of its spread in Transbaikalia in the XVII-XVIII centuries are insufficiently studied due to the lack of archival materials and sources, while the surviving historical records provide different information about some events, such as the year of construction of the first Buddhist temple and the first sermon, the years of D.-D. Zayaev's life. The earliest extant sources are "Autobiography" and "Travel Notes" written by D.-D. Zayaev in 1768. They contain valuable information not only about the history of Buryat Buddhism, but also about the life and activities of D.-D. Zayaev (1711-1776), the first Buryat pandita Khambo-Lama, whose name is associated with the beginning of the spread of Buddhism among the Buryats and its institutionalization in the Russian Empire, but also with the description of his pilgrimage to Tibet. In this regard, in order to clarify some dates on the early history of Buryat Buddhism, texts related to him have been searched for and analyzed in the funds of the Center of Oriental Manuscripts and Xylographs (CVRK) of the Institute for Mongolian, Buddhist and Tibetan Studies of the Siberian Branch of the RAS. It was established that of the six sources found, the most informative work is "The Legend of the Tsongol Kin Pandita Khambo-Lama Zayaev's Journey to Tibet" in the Old Mongolian script, stored in the Mongolian collection of the CVRK. As a result of the study, it was revealed that this work is a late manuscript consisting of the "Travel Notes", the Biography of D.-D. Zayaev and of an anonymous manuscript containing a brief description of Buddhist sacred places and shrines in India, Nepal, Tibet and Mongolia, what has determined its structure consisting of 3 parts. It was found out that this manuscript contains information about the socio-economic situation of the population of Tibet and neighboring countries, as well as information about the history of Buddhism in Transbaikal region in the middle of the XVIII century. It testifies to Russia's geopolitical interests in this region of Inner Asia and the peoples living there, as the author reports, saying that it was written at the behest of Catherine II, who outlined a range of issues: "to describe what I’ve seen on my way to Tibet, the length of the road and distance, as well as about the customs and habits of people". The unique historical information preserved by the Buryat pilgrim and the Russian citizen D.-D. Zayaev is also relevant for conducting comparative studies of the phenomenon of modern pilgrimage that is becoming popular not only for believers but among ordinary lay population.

Spatial Images of the Liminal South-West of the Russian Empire (Based on “Travel Notes Across Russia” by M. P. Zhdanov)

Spatial Images of the Liminal South-West of the Russian Empire (Based on “Travel Notes Across Russia” by M. P. Zhdanov)

The Caucasus of the Second Half of the 19th Century through the Eyes of a Russian Merchant: From the Travel Notes of Mikhail Konstantinovich Sidorov

The article studies a historical source that previously was not in the focus of research - travel notes of the outstanding Russian merchant of the 19th century, gold miner, and discoverer of the Northern Sea Route Mikhail Konstantinovich Sidorov, which he wrote during a trip to the North Caucasus and Transcaucasia in August – September 1878. It aims to analyze the notes, characterize their content, and reveal the information potential for further study of the processes that took place among the forming Russian bourgeoisie in the post-reform period and testifying to the interest of Russian capital in the study and economic development of the outskirts of the empire. The research relies on the intellectual history approach, which involves the study of the mentality, the emergence and subsequent transformation of various ideas and cultural orientations inherent in a particular social stratum, in this case, the Russian merchant class. The travelogue provides valuable information characterizing the methods of work of its author, who already had extensive experience in the exploration and development of ore and oil fields in Siberia and the lower reaches of the Pechora, in collecting and recording primary information about minerals located in the region, local mining and manufacturing enterprises, his range of interests and, to some extent, ideological attitudes (in particular, adherence to the ideals of the Russian Orthodox Church). The surviving notes are, first of all, a brief fixation of what was seen, necessary for subsequent comprehension and generalization in the form of articles and reports, as well as formulations of practical recommendations on the prospects for further economic development of the territories that recently became part of the Russian Empire. In addition to information about the economic capacities of the region, M. K. Sidorov’s notes reflect the author’s impressions of visiting several local towns and villages, exploring natural and historical attractions, communicating with residents of different ethnicities. As a whole, the source under consideration expands the anthology of diaries and memoirs known to date that have arisen among the Russian peasantry, contains information about the economic and socio-cultural state of the Caucasus in the second half of the 19th century, emphasizes the interest and active participation of Russian business circles in the study and economic development of the region.

Chișinău from 1919 in the Travel Notes of the American John Kaba and the French Emmanuel de Martonne

The article points out the representations that the city of Chișinău had shortly after the Union of Bessarabia with Romania in the notes written by the American John Kaba and the French Emmanuel de Martonne. Westerners visited it in 1919, and their descriptions and information were intended to inform the people of their countries on various aspects, from economic to political and cultural. Although they aimed to make a study, their representations were not always dry, involving aesthetic attitudes. We believe that some passages fix representative and synthetic images of the period, thus enriching the imagological collection of the capital of interwar Bessarabia. For example, Emmanuel de Martonne saw a Chișinău with wide streets intersecting at right angles, beautiful buildings and parks, with shops and museums. This vision proved, according to him, a modern European urban sensibility.

Modern Chinese Buddhist Culture in the Greater Hangzhou Region in Yu Dafu’s Travel Notes

Buddhism has been a significant part of Hangzhou’s rich history. Throughout the twentieth century, Hangzhou’s Buddhist culture continued to inspire many Chinese writers, one of the most prominent being Yu Dafu. The writer stayed in Hangzhou several times during the 1920s and 1930s and wrote numerous travel notes, including many describing his and his friends’ visits to temples in and around Hangzhou. These short travel notes, written in modern Chinese with the characteristics of modern prose, opened a relationship between Buddhism and Chinese literature, effectively inaugurating a fresh genre of Chinese Buddhist literature. This paper focuses on Yu Dafu’s travel notes, considers extensive historical sources, and explores how they recorded and represented Chinese Buddhist culture in Hangzhou and more broadly. This paper also explores the reciprocal influence of contemporary Hangzhou’s Buddhist culture on writers’ cognitive frameworks, spiritual solace, and literary choices.

A New Discovery of Xu Xiake’s Whereabouts in Zhejiang Province from the Perspective of Digital Xu Studies

By extracting the tracing information of Xu Xiake’s travels to Zhejiang Province recorded in his The Travel Notes of Xu Xiake, this research constructed his tracing database by using geographic information system technology, and carried out detailed spatial analysis and visual expression of Xu Xiake’s travels. This research resolved two controversies. First, when Xu Xiake visited Zhejiang Province for the second time in 1616, he went into Kaihua (Anhui Province) from Changshan. After visiting Huangshan Mountain, he traveled across Tunxi to Changshan, then went through Jiangxi into Fujian Province. Second, on his way home after visiting Tiantai Mountain and Yandang Mountain for the third time, Xu Xiake and Xu Zhongzhao parted at Shangyu and went to Siming Mountain alone.

Narrative Contradictions: to the History of the Publication of Vasily Grossman’s Essay “Dobro Vam: from Travel Notes”

The article considers variants of interpretations of the publication history of V. S. Grossman's essay “Dobro Vam: From Travel Notes”. The polemic between A. G. Bocharov, the author of the book about Grossman, and N. A. Gonchar, who published this essay in the journal “Literary Armenia”, is considered. It is proved that the history of the publication of the essay was presented inaccurately in the emigrant and then in the Soviet press; in particular, the information that there was no fragment devoted to anti-Semitism in the publication of “Literary Armenia” was erroneous. We analyze the reasons why most literary scholars still ignore the information about the first journal publication proposed by the participant of the editorial preparation and documented.

Travel Notes of Luka Yatsenko-Zelenskyi in the Context of the Development of the Ukrainian Memoir Tradition of the ХVІІІ Century

Travel Notes of Luka Yatsenko-Zelenskyi in the Context of the Development of the Ukrainian Memoir Tradition of the ХVІІІ Century

Perspective from Chinese Tourists: Study on Urban Tourism Experience of Seoul City Based on Online Travel Notes

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has had a serious impact on the tourism of Seoul, which is deeply dependent on international tourists. It is now more crucial than ever to make preparation for tourism recovery. Hence, this study took the travel notes posted by Chinese tourists in Seoul as a data source and applied manual content analysis to encode urban tourism experience (UTE) elements from travel notes, scoring them one by one and, consequently, obtaining the Seoul UTE element structure table. On this basis, the paper used social network analysis (SNA) and modified “importance–performance” analysis (MIPA), which complement each other, to thoroughly analyze the structural characteristics of elements and experience quality. The content analysis concludes that the Seoul UTE includes twenty-eight elements; SNA analysis shows that the network structure has high internal coordination and that UTE elements present aggregation with an indication of obvious differentiation of tourist sources; MIPA analysis reveals that overall experience quality is high, and an evaluation of traditional elements such as shopping and catering found them to be good; however, the evaluation of some core elements is low. With the help of our findings, it is hoped that this study can provide a better understanding and mastery of Chinese tourists’ demands and experiences to further improve tourism competitiveness for the industry’s recovery after post-COVID-19.

“A СANDLE IS BURNING IN MY BOAT…”: THE IMAGE OF THE RIVER IN THE «THE TRAVEL NOTES» OF ARCHBISHOP NIL (N. F. ISAKOVICH)

The article is devoted to studying the travel prose of the Orthodox clergy in the 19th century as a phenomenon of the Siberian regional literature and one of the classical versions of the “Siberian text.” The boundaries of the “Siberian text” in Russian literature are defined by the characteristics of regional identity, which is reflected in this text and is shaped by the Siberian geographical space. The hypothesis of the importance of the river image — as the most obvious space-time coordinate — in Siberian literature is put forward. The specifics of the representation of this image in the works of the clergy are examined on the example of “Travel Notes” by Nil (Isakovich), Archbishop of Irkutsk (1838–1853). The notes recount missionary journey along the Lena and other rivers in its basin in the summer of 1843. Archbishop Nil constructs the image of the river as a multi-faceted model of human interaction with space — in the context of a Christian worldview, as well as personal and cultural memory. This model is revealed in historical, emotional-psychological, mythopoetic and ontological terms in relation to the categories of chaos and cosmos, border and transition, existential solitude and spiritual transformation. The author's intention is aimed at overcoming the prehistoric pagan essence of the river in the traveler's mind through its aestheticization, conceptualization and sacralization as a space of meeting with the Creator. This correlates with the genre strategy of the Christian pilgrimage. The image of the river recreates a dynamic image of all of Siberia — ancient, steeped in primeval chaos, pagan and mythological in its essence, but open to Christian transfiguration and rebirth. The significance of Archbishop Nil's travel notes, and clergy travelogues in general, in the history of Russian literature is determined by the fact that the Siberian space is reflected in their writings in its spiritual dimension. This approach, in turn, makes it possible to present the process of Siberian exploration in its ontological and axiological essence — as an incorporation into the Russian national consciousness, Christian in its basis.

Путь в Сибирь как опыт «пороговой» ситуации в мемуарах православного духовенства XVII-XIX веков

The article considers the idea of the liminal status of Siberia in the Russian cultural consciousness, which remains relevant today and affects the understanding of the essence and boundaries of the Siberian text of Russian literature. The aim is to expand the source base of this aspect of the Siberian text by referring to the Siberian spiritual literature. The paper analyzes the “Life of Archpriest Avvakum”, associated, according to V. I. Tyupa, with the beginning of the “conceptualization of Siberia as a liminal chronotope” Also, the texts of the 19th century are investigated: “Tales of the Pilgrimage” of Monk Parfeny and “Travel Notes” of Archbishop Nil (Isakovich). The significance of the liminal situation for the Siberian clergy is determined by the circumstances of its ministry: most of them were not natives of the region and had their personal experience of transition. Of importance is also a high level of self-reflection, contributing to a deep understanding of that event and its fixation in memoir-autobiographical form. The works offer two versions of depicting this situation: as a mystical experience, often reinforced by visionary practice and the motive of the miraculous, referring to the hagiographic tradition, and as a time-consuming and dialogical psycho-emotional process. Whatever the case, a holistic image of the transition to Siberia is created as an existential event, the transition purpose being interpreted as the realization of the apostolic mission or as a personal “сhristological initiation”.

What You Should Know about Versailles: Leonhard Christoph Sturm’s Die zum Vergnügen der Reisenden geöffnete Baumeister-Academie

Almost two decades before his Architectonische Reise-Anmerckungen (Architectural Travel Notes), published in 1719, the German architectural theorist Leonhard Christoph Sturm published another ‘guide’ for construction-related travel studies, which, however, received far less attention in the relevant research. Die zum Vergnügen der Reisenden Geöffnete Baumeister-Academie (first edition, Hamburg, 1700/1702) is mainly addressed to the dilettante reader, primarily the young nobleman, and represents a summary of his teaching as professor at the Wolfenbüttel Ritterakademie. Based on this contextual background, the article examines the importance of Versailles in particular in Sturm’s canon of buildings worth seeing and studying, and the differences that become evident in comparison with the Architectonische Reise-Anmerckungen.

Хосров-Мирза: историческая личность и художественный образ. К вопросу о культурном своеобразии русско-персидских связей

The image of Persian Prince Khosrow Mirza, who headed the Apology Delegation to Russia, entered the Russian artistic culture of the 19th and 20th centuries. His name was mentioned by Alexander Pushkin in A Journey to Arzrum, by Nikolai Gogol in the Petersburg stories The Nose and The Portrait. Yury Tynyanov in his novel The Death of Vazir-Mukhtar (1928) elaborated in detail characteristics of the Persian prince. In Dmitri Shostakovich’s Opera The Nose, a musical and dramatic picture was built around the image of Khosrow Mirza. Although this image is inextricably linked to the memory of the death of Alexander Griboyedov, it formed a special set of motifs “colored” by the prince’s individual and personal features. The consideration of Khosrow Mirza’s image in Gogol’s stories casts doubt on the hypothesis proposed by Natalia Seregina about the connection of this image with the satirical element of the comedy The Inspector General. The image of Khosrow Mirza turns out to be the generator of the formation of the Persian text of Gogol’s Petersburg Tales. The analysis of the draft versions of the story The Portrait allows us to argue that, at the very beginning, a special semantic node is formed, which involves the generals who participated in the wars with Turkey and Iran, and the Tehran ambassador. Thus, an orientation is created for the development of an oriental theme, which was subsequently realized in the image of the terrible portrait and the demonic lender. The study of the semantic layers associated with Khosrow Mirza makes it possible to discover the connections between the Persian images of Gogol and the adventure novel The Adventures of Haji Baba from Isfahan by James Justinian Morier. Pictures of Persian life appear in the images of the Isfahan hereditary barber and local beauties, in the motif of money, cut-off noses, a head baked in bread, and are reflected in the stories Nevsky Prospect, The Nose, The Portrait. Another perspective of analysis opens up when understanding the special mission of Khosrow Mirza, aimed at the dialogue of cultures. The prince’s desire is noted to present in Russia the works of the great Persian poets Saadi and Ferdowsi, to implement the rhetoric of dialogue in an apology to Griboyedov’s mother and in a speech addressed to the Russian emperor. The introduction to scholarly discourse of translations of the book Ruzname-ye Safari Petersbourg [The Travel Notes of Khosrow Mirza] by Mirza Mustafa Afshar provides an insight into the Persian perception of the journey to Russia. The episodes of the arrival of the Iranian embassy in the royal palace, the description of the Tauride Palace, the process of making lithographs are considered. The authors conclude that the Persian embassy in St. Petersburg in 1829, caused by the tragic events, nevertheless significantly contributed to the strengthening of Iran’s authority and the formation of its unique cultural image in the minds of the Russian public. Much credit for establishing the dialogical character of relations belongs to the head of the Persian mission, Prince Khosrow Mirza. The authors declare no conflicts of interests.

The Russian Understanding of Manchu in the Second Half of the 19th Century: Focusing on Zakharov’s Complete Manchu-Russian Dictionary and the Contemporary Works

Sinology and Manchu studies in Russia are famous for their traditions and their own path of development. Since the 18th century, members of the Russian Orthodox mission devoted themselves to sinology and Manchu studies, especially in the second half of the 19th century, when they carried out a large number of studies on the history of the Qing dynasty and the Manchu language that deserve our attention. This article analyzes entries related to Manchu in the Complete Manchu-Russian Dictionary by I. I. Zakharov. By comparing selected entries of the Complete Manchu-Russian Dictionary with two OTHER Manchu Dictionaries, namely Da Qing Quan Shu and Yuzhi Zengding Qingwen Jian , the article demonstrates how I. I. Zakharov defined the vocabulary and differences of interpretations in these dictionaries. By comparing entries with information from contemporary works, such as Works on Chinese Issues by Russian Missionaries in Beijing in the Mid-19 th Century and the travel note Travel to China , this article provides an image to understand how vocabulary reflects Russians’ understanding and perception of the Qing Dynasty and Manchu in the second half of the 19th century.

Anton Chekhov’s Sakhalin Island: An Ongoing Commentary

A study of the currently existing translations of Anton Chekhovs Sakhalin Island (From Travel Notes) (Luba and Michael Terpak - 1967, Brian Reeve - 1993) shows that the reason for some errors in translated texts is not always due to the negligence of translators, which is so clearly noticeable in the first translation, but rather in the incomprehensibi- lity for foreigners of some realia in the original text. Reference to two available Сommentaries on Sakhalin Island, by M.L. Semanova (1985) and M.S. Vysokov (2010), as well as to the works of other Chekhov scholars, did not give the sought-after explanations of certain vague excerpts from the book. Those obscure excerpts are also poorly understood by the Russian readership. In particular, we are talking about Chekhovs mention of the use of a naval rope in the surgical department (Chapter VII) and the perception of the status of a class feldscher/paramedic (Chapter XII). The author of the article offers her own commentary on difficult-to-understand passages and thus fills the gap that has arisen. Conclusions are drawn about the need to continue to provide Chekhovs Sakhalin Island with commentaries and notes. Such commentary should serve two purposes. Its linguistic and cultural character should help to clarify the realias not only for representatives of a foreign linguistic culture - in order to prevent gross errors in translations, but also for the present-day Russian reader, separated from the time when A.P. Chekhovs book was written by almost one hundred and thirty years.

Transformations in linguocultural image of Persia in the novel “The Death of Vazir-Mukhtar” by Yury Tynyanov in comparison with “The Travel Notes” by A. S. Griboyedov

The subject of this research is the lexical means of creation of the linguocultural image of Persia in the novel “The Death of Vazir-Mukhtar” by Yury Tynyanov in comparison with “The Travel Notes” by A. S. Griboyedov The goal is to reveal the patterns of creation of linguoculturological image of Persia. For achieving the set goal, the lexical means are classified into lexical-semantic groups and subjected to semantic analysis. The article explores the lexical-semantic groups: nonequivalent lexicon (realias); proper names, including toponyms and anthroponyms; and common nouns that denote cultural realities, particularly denominations of people, place, holidays and calendar events, and artifacts. The scientific novelty consists in diachronic research of the process of formation of the image of Persia. The main results lies in the proof that the linguoculturological image is formed on the basis of certain lexical-semantic constants. The analysis of lexical units indicated that the semantic groups of words with linguoculturological component in these two works coincide, but the linguocultural image of Iran created by Y. Tynyanov in the novel “The Death of Vazir-Mukhtar” 100 years after “The Travel Notes” by A. S. Griboyedov is expressed by a wide range and variety of thematic lexical groups. This fact is explained not only by the genre differences of the texts, but also by the fact that with the course of time, the linguoculturological image of the country changes; it develops around certain constants, the semantic core.

Footsteps of a Victorian Woman in the Ottoman Middle East: Edith Sykes’ Travel Notes

Edith Violet Sykes (1872-1930) is an undiscovered character in the historiography of travel literature. She is the wife of a British agent and diplomat Sir Mark Sykes, who was renowned for his deeds in the Middle East and the Sykes-Picot Agreement. She is actively engaged in politics, establishing Chaldean Relief Committee for Armenian and Assyrian populations, and criticizing the violence in Ireland. Her travel notes in 1906 in the Ottoman Middle East shed light on her Orientalist mindset, the construction of East vis-à-vis the West, and how Victorian-born woman approaches this land and its people. In that sense, the purpose of this article is multifarious: First of all, this study will be the initial presentation of the unpublished travel notes of Edith Sykes. Secondly, the different assets of the Ottoman Middle East such as rivalry among the tribes, people’s living, and political disturbances will be discerned through the British woman whose narration provides assistance for the transition of events into political discourse.