Imagological aspects of travelogues by the second-row Russian sentimentalists

By analyzing works of second-row sentimentalist writers of the early 19th century, the research aims to identify the imagological aspects peculiar to the travelogues of these authors. The article contains imagological analysis of four sentimental travelogues: “The Journey through the Whole Crimea and Bessarabia in 1799” by P. I. Sumarokov (1800), “The Journey to Kazan, Vyatka and Orenburg in 1800” by M. I. Nevzorov (1800), “The Journey to Ukraine” by P. I. Shalikov (1803), “Letters from London” by P. I. Makarov (1805). The researchers make conclusions pertaining to the manner and methods of depiction of the “alien” in the traditions of sentimentalism. The research is original in that it is the first one to identify the imagological aspects characteristic of the sentimental prose of the 18th and 19th centuries, employing the works of the most popular genre during this period (besides the novella), namely, the travelogue. As a result, it was found that sentimentalism, with its cult of sensitivity and empathy, assumed thoughtful observation of other people’s life, deep understanding of people and interest to their inner world. The genre of travelogue allowed the writers to immerse themselves into a foreign cultural environment, paying much attention to the image of “aliens”. Following N. M. Karamzin, who had popularized this genre (“Letters of a Russian Traveler”, 1791-1792), many other writers appeared in Russian literature, who described their journeys in a sentimental way. Travel, as a method of self-development and cross-cultural understanding, aligned with Enlightenment ideals and their emphasis on knowledge.