Až na konec světa
To the Edge of the World

Structure of the Old Czech Travelogues

Summary/Abstract: Tis essay ofers a close reading of the Diary (c. 1465) of Squire Jaroslav, the Commentarius (c. 1467; Czech original lost, a Latin translation printed in 1577) by Václav Šašek of Bířkov, and the modern reworking of Šašek’s text in a children’s novel by Alois Jirásek (Až na konec světa, published in 1890). Te authors try to elucidate the characteristic features of these travelogues by examining the various kinds of fssures that can be found in each text. Troughout Jaroslav’s diary, for example, these rifs are indicated by “etc.”, which the reader is simply invited to fll in. Pavlovský introduces discontinuity into the story by inserting verbatim citations of various documents and charters that ultimately glorify Pavlovský’s benefactors, the family of the leader of Šašek’s legation, Lev of Rožmitál. Finally, Jirásek is presented as an exemplary post-medieval reader of antique texts who flls the ofered gaps with didactic content, anchoring his own agenda in the picturesque scafolding of a knightly quest to the edge of the world.

• Details
• Contents