Travel literature in Russia in the first half of the XIX century: the evolution of the "Russia-West" problem

The article is focused on the main issues of the evolution of the travel literature in Russia in the first half of the XIX century. The material for the study is based on the travel writing byP. Gorikhvostov and I. M. Simonov. The analysis of these works reveals the main characteristic features of the travel literature of this period and allows us to trace the nature of their change in the context of the "Russia-West" problem. Special emphasis is made on the influence of the «Letters of a Russian Traveller» by N. M. Karamzin as well as the foreign literary tradition based on works by L. Stern and Sh. Dupati on an author-traveller of the beginning of the century and the gradual weakening of this tradition by 1840-1850. Comparing the Karamzin type of travel with the subsequent ones leads to the conclusion that there has been a significant change in the way a typical representative of the Russian society of that time views travelling. This is connected with the enhance of the national consciousness and redefining the role of the West. These changes are facilitated by significant events that occurred during this period, primarily the Patriotic War of 1812 and the foreign campaigns of the Russian army in 1813-1814.