Nations- und Geschichtsbilder in Reiseführern: Rumänien und Ukraine in vergleichender Sicht
Views of Nation and History in Travel Guides: Romania and Ukraine in Comparative Analysis

Summary/Abstract: The following article examines the function of guide books as mediators between travelers and host countries. A global community of travelers make use of guide books by well-known publishers such as „Lonely Planet“ or „Let’s Go“. These publications are widely regarded as valuable, trustworthy sources of information. Guide books usually provide historical and cultural information on host countries which in turn shape travel experiences. For some travelers, travel guides may be the only source of information on history and culture of a specific country they are visiting. This article assumes that some guide books include an imagery of the nation and its history in its historical and cultural information which is close to national self-images. At the same time travel guides display an appearance of impersonal, objective travel companions. Interpretations of the past according to national needs may influence the historical information of travel guides written by foreign travel journalists. Therefore, the historical information of 30 different contemporary guide books on Romania and Ukraine published in English or German are compared with master narratives originating from both countries. The comparative approach of this article proposes three different stages which can be found in the interpretation of the host country’s history. A mystical early history lays the foundation of a national history from ancient or medieval times to the present. A „golden age“ displays the virtue and lost self-determination of pre-modern „predecessor states“ in between the medieval and the early modern period. A victimization or glorification of the 19th and 20th century closes the circle to the present and presents the nation-state as a result of struggles which lasted for centuries. In this way, travel guides can mirror the host country’s perception of a national history and its national historiography.

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