Călătorul Mihail Kogălniceanu (note de călătorie în Spania) [Articol]

Abstract

In this article, we comment on the writing "Travel Notes in Spain" by Mihail Kogălniceanu, inspired by the author of the journey undertaken, during the years 1846-1847, in the Iberian region. The text includes a broad look on the geographical, ethnographic, historical, social, political, cultural, family aspects of this picturesque area. The observations of the Moldovan traveller are structured on the principle of comparison, most of the evoked Hispanic realities being compared to the similar ones from Moldova of the past. Frequent parallels denote that the travelling writer is critically observing and analyzing otherness, relating it to the identity of his homeland and his people. The prose is built from meticulous comments, which the narrator, adopting sometimes the role of guide, seems to present them to an imaginary interlocutor.