Russian tzar Peter the Great in records of literary journeys by South Koreans

The paper aims at tracing specific features of how the Russian tzar Peter the Great is represented in socalled “records of literary journeys” ( munhak kihaeng ), popular among South Korean bloggers, in relation with Alexander Pushkin’s poem “The Bronze Horseman”, as well as at finding the reasons for such features to be formed. The paper continues the author’s previous publications on a subject that is new for the western Korean studies - i.e., the specifics of the perception of Peter the Great and his activities in South Korea. Such phenomenon as “records of literary journeys” has also not been studied before. Starting from the 1990s, after establishing diplomatic relations between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Korea, Saint Petersburg has become a popular tourist destination for the “literary journeys” (i. e., visiting places related to literature and authors). Among other sights, the monument called “The Bronze Horseman” receives a special attention in such records. South Koreans know about it from the eponymous Pushkin’s poem translated by the specialists in Russian literature. The research tasks include the following: to identify the reasons why the Bronze Horseman is a popular part of the literary routes of South Koreans, to trace the main repeating comments related to Peter the Great in the records of literary journeys, to make an attempt to group them for the further study of the prerequisites for their formation, and to draw the general conclusion based on the cultural and historical context. The conclusions about the reasons why the records’ authors focus on the figure of Peter the Great rather than on the literary content are based on one of the cultural dominants related to understanding the role of text in the Korean worldview.