Ironic inversions: Geographical and political islands in F.C. Delius’ Stroll from Rostock to Syracuse (1995)

The paper analyses Friedrich Christian Delius’ story Der Spaziergang von Rostock nach Syrakus (1995) in the context of island discourses and the discursive construction of insular spaces. It argues that, in a satirical adaptation of Seume’s Stroll to Syracuse (1803), Delius reconceptualises the Mediterranean island of Sicily as the traditionalplace of longing in German travel literature since the 18th century by contrasting it to the political ‘island’ of the GDR. He constructs the socialist state as a place of yearning and develops a counter-discourse to the established European island imaginary.

Tesori di arte sacra a Venezia e Padova nelle descrizioni dei viaggiatori polacchi del XVIII secolo

In the 18th century, Italian sanctuaries played an important religious and cultural role, especially in Venice and Padua. They were visited by Polish wanderers during their trips around Europe, for example: diplomatic missions, pilgrimages, educational or tourist trips. They recorded their impressions from visiting these places in the form of descriptions in diaries, journals and itineraries. Reading the reports from the expeditions provides valuable insights on the mentality, customs of upbringing, as well as the religious and aesthetic experiences of eighteenth-century adventurers. The article aims to present the ways in which the collections of sacred art were perceived by Polish travelers from the 18th century. The analysis of their accounts, especially the fragments concerning the sanctuaries in Venice and Padua, will serve to present the literary covenants used by Polish wanderers. It should also answer the questions which tendencies dominated in the travel literature of that time, what phrases and formulations were used, and what items were paid special attention to.

Obraz przewodnika górskiego w literaturze romantycznej. Część I

The intensive development of tourism in the 19th century significantly contributed to the emergence of the guide’s profession. In earlier centuries, this feat was practiced by random people, often unqualified, but with time they became indispensable companions and patrons of tourists. Special qualities were required from mountain guides who, when introducing people to the mountains, had to show special qualities: responsibility, good knowledge of the topography of a given area, care, specific knowledge, as well as good physical condition. The job was professionalized the earliest in the Alps, but the process took place more or less at the same time in other European mountains, for example in the Karkonosze Mountains. It was much more difficult to hire an experienced guide in the Carpathians, where the leadership developed much later. Travel literature of the nineteenth century brought numerous accounts describing the relationship between the guide and the tourist as well as providing numerous realistic descriptions of the first to “hike in the mountains”. Due to the factual nature of this travel literature (diaries, memoirs, etc.), the pioneers of the leadership remained anonymous and found their place in the history of tourism and mountain climbing. This article omits the subject of Tatra guides, which will be the subject of a separate study.

Reportaż magiczny? Uwagi o "Wszystkich zajęciach Yoirysa Manuela" Adama Kwaśnego

'Wszystkie zajęcia Yoirysa Manuela' [All occupations of Yoirys Manuel] by Adam Kwaśny (2017) is a collection of stories about the inhabitants of the city of Trinidad in Cuba, which can be read as an attempt to look for a new approach in the travel literature and reportage writing. By the use of the techniques typical for magical realism and non-fiction literature at the same time, the work shows the reality of the city from the perspective of its inhabitants, or more precisely: from the perspective of a narrator coming from the outside world, but sharing the beliefs and worldview of the described people.

اسْتثمارُ العربيَّةِ في تدوينِ العلومِ البَحتةِ (الجغرافيا، والطب، والفيزياء)

تسعى هذه الدراسةُ إلى تتبعِ أثرِ اللغةِ العربيةِ في تدوين ثلاثةِ علوم، وهي: (الجغرافيا، والطب، والفيزياء)، مُتبعةً في ذلك المنهج (الوصفي التحليلي) في عرض مادة الدراسة. وقد جَاءَ تفصيلُ القول في علم الجغرافيا على التوزيع الكمّي للظاهرة اللغويّة، وتبيان أثر المكان الجغرافيّ في التنوّع اللهجي الذي يبرزُ خيرَ ما يكونُ ويُطمَحُ إليه في الأطالس اللغويّة، وفي أدب الرحلات، ولا سيما أدب ابن بطوطة الذي كان تكَأة الباحث (تحفة النظّار). وفي الطبّ يتوقّفُ الباحثُ عند ما ألّفه العربُ في الطبّ، وأفادَ منه العلمُ الحديثُ، كما أفادَ منه الأوروبيّون، وتعريب تدريس الطبّ في الجامعات أسوة بالجامعات السورية، مع ذكر نماذج من كتب الطبّ التي أضحت عُمدة، نحو: (الطب النبوي لابن قيّم الجوزيّة، والحاوي لأبي بكر الرازي، والقانون في الطب لابن سينا). وأما علمُ الفيزياء فقد أفادَ الباحث من مصطلحات، نحو: (الفراغ، والزمن، والركود، والجريان، والمزامنة، والمسافة، وغيرها) في بنية اللغة النصيّة التي طغت في النسيج الروائي بعامّة، ولا سيّما عند الأدباء المغاربة، وفي النقد الروائي الذي اغتنى بهذه المصطلحات، مع التدليل بأمثلةٍ دالّةٍ من منجز الدكتور/ كمال أبو ديب في هذا الشأن. الكلمات المفتاحية: (تدوين، اللغة العربية، الجغرافيا، الطب، الفيزياء). Abstract: The current study aims at investigating the impact of Arabic language on documenting three sciences, namely geography, medicine and physics; in which the descriptive analytical approach was used to clarify this issue. Regarding geography, the researcher provided a detailed discussion of the quantitative distribution of the linguistic phenomenon and showed the effect of the geographical location on linguistic diversity that is highly proven and indicated in the linguistic atlases and travel literature, especially the literature of Ibn Battuta (Tuhfat al-nazar), which was the support and the pillar for the researcher. Regarding medicine, the researcher was satisfied with mentioning what the Arabs wrote about medicine, which has benefited the modern science and the Europeans as well. He also mentioned the Arabization of the medicine teaching in universities in a similar way to the Syrian universities, together with mentioning examples of the medicine books that became key pillars and references, such as (The Prophetic Medicine or Al-Tibb al-nabawī) by Ibn Qayyim al- -Jawziyyah, (Al-Hawi) by Abu Bakr al-Razi and (Al-Qanun fi al-Tibb) by Ibn Sina. Regarding physics, the researcher stated some terms in the structure of the text language, such as Space, Time, Stagnation, flow, synchronization, distance and others that dominated the novels in general, especially among the Moroccan writers and the narrative criticism that was enrich in these terms. The researcher demonstrated this through mentioning proves and relating examples to this issue from (Jdliah Alkhfa'a Waltjli) book authored by prof. Kamal Abu Deeb. Keywords: (Documenting, Arabic, Geography, Medicine, Physics).

Dreaming of Colonialism: Imagining “Place” in Richard Brome’s The Antipodes

This article explores the colonial mindset behind the depiction of space and travel in Richard Brome’s The Antipodes. Using Benedict Anderson’s Imagined Communities and Robert T. Tally Jr.’s “On Literary Cartography: Narrative as a Spatially Symbolic Act” as frames for reading travel and travel literature in the text offers new insight into reading Antipodes’ underlying colonial mindset that is intertwined with the complex metatheatrical elements of the play. I read Peregrine as a British explorer going into the exotic to reform and impose his own ways of knowing on the people of the Antipodes. However, the complex metatheatrical elements further complicate this colonial reading of the text. The text uses metatheatrical elements that ultimately makes the audience aware of their own role in the space of the play—invoking a sense of self reflection. By focusing on the ways in which the exotic world is constructed and imagined, the nation as a performance, and the colonial discourse and power dynamics underlying the text I argue that The Antipodes can be read through modern literary theory to better understand and display the emerging difficulties and problems that accompany the developing sense of English nationalism and proto-colonialism. In doing so, the text displays the inherent colonial structures that inform and limit the role of both travel literature and the romance genre in “imaging” nations—something that is pivotal to both questioning and understanding the role of the nation in an increasingly global context.

NJEGOŠ U NJEMAČKIM PUTOPISIMA SVOGA DOBA NJEGOŠ IN GERMAN TRAVELOGUES OF HIS TIME

Although travelogue is a marginalized literary genre, its role in imagological research is enormous and it cannot be disputed that as a media for studying relations between cultures, it mediated vast knowledge and information that was often taken as the only authoritative one. German travel writings of the 19th century about Montenegro were very scarce until Petar II Petrović Njegoš came to power, and with the change of government in Montenegro, the attitude of foreigners towards it also changed, so travel writers from Germany headed to this South Slavic country. Translations played a great role in arousing the interest of German writers, especially the translation of Karadžić's work "Montenegro and Montenegrins", but also the visit of the Saxon King Frederick Augustus II. The time of Njegoš's rule can be considered the blooming of German travel literature about Montenegro and the time when closer ties were established between these two cultures, which will affect the situation after Njegoš's death, when the most important travel writers of the 19th century came to Montenegro from the German-speaking area. In the German travelogues of Njegoš's time, the writers dealt with numerous topics that clearly reflected the image of the other and not all had the same approach and view of certain phenomena in Montenegrin society. However, the personality of the Montenegrin ruler united them and they all wrote hymns about Njegoš, without exception. He was the personification of kindness and hospitality, erudition and wisdom, masculine beauty and prudence in the German travelogues of his time, he was a reformer and an enlightener, and in every respect he was a symbol of progress.

Zreformowana Anglia w oczach polskich podróżników

Reformed England in the Eyes of Polish Travelers in the Early Modern Period The aim of this article is to reconstruct and present the image of reformed England and the English people as perceived by the inhabitants of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. The primary source used is travel literature. The author analyses travellers’ impressions with research and educational journeys, “grand tour,” and diplomatic missions related to state or parliamentary activities. Travel literature containing descriptions of England reflect the author’s impressions, feelings, judgments and subjective opinions, as well as convey some knowledge about the world acquired not only during the trip, but also as a result of prior knowledge gained through learning and education. Moreover, the article discusses the emergence of a spectrum of perspectives and prejudices both for and against the English people, as well as the formation of national stereotypes.