„Obcy” kraj, „inne” społeczeństwo. XVII-wieczna Anglia w relacjach podróżniczych mieszkańców Rzeczypospolitej – wyobrażenia a rzeczywistość
A ‘Foreign’ Country, ‘Another’ Society. Seventeenth-century England in the Travel Accounts of the Inhabitants of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth – Perceptions versus Reality

Summary/Abstract: Travel in the modern period played an important role in shaping the geographical horizon and creating perceptions of ‘foreign’ countries and ‘other’ peoples. ‘Curiosity’ was the basic impulse to embark on a journey to ‘foreign’ countries. It stimulated the development of knowledge, inspired, and encouraged meticulous observation of the surrounding reality. The aim of the article is to reconstruct sympathies and prejudices towards English society and the image of England existing in the consciousness of Old Polish voyagers. The source base of the article consists of printed and manuscript accounts of journeys and ambassadorial missions, as well as instructions written down by parents or guardians. The accounts contain rich and intri- guing descriptions, which are a testimony to the confrontation of imagination with reality. The source material presents a diverse image of the English people. Accounts by Old Polish travelers are dominated by remarks related to the religious aspect. Descriptions of the prevailing religion were emotionally charged and constituted a manifestation of the feelings and religious beliefs of Catholics as well as dissenters. The image of the heretic Englishman is a stereotype firmly rooted in the Old Polish mentality. The resulting image of England has its roots in reality, but also in subjective opinions, impressions, sympathies as well as in myths and stereotypes func- tioning in the Sarmatian consciousness.

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