TRAVELLING, CULTURE AND LITERARY REPRESENTATION. ROMANIAN TRAVELLERS TO ENGLAND IN THE FORMER HALF OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
TRAVELLING, CULTURE AND LITERARY REPRESENTATION. ROMANIAN TRAVELLERS TO ENGLAND IN THE FORMER HALF OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

Summary/Abstract: Taking into account the fact that travelling and culture exist in a dependent relationship or that travelling is an attempt to quench one’s thirst for knowledge, travelling becomes a source of intellectual or spiritual enlightenment and a means of cultural contact and exchange. On this background, this paper discusses the travelling experience of Marcu Beza (1882–1949), a little known essayist, poet, prose writer, literary critic, folklorist, translator, and diplomat of Aromanian origin. A follower of Nicolae Iorga or Ion Codru-Drăguşanu, he travelled to England at the beginning of the twentieth century and his travel accounts represent valuable insights into the English life of those times, especially given that Romanian travels to European countries were still limited. Two of his works, Din alte ţări: studii şi impresii (1933) and Din Anglia. Însemnările unui literat (1938), still constitute rare resources for the investigation of the English society at the turn of the century as seen through the eyes of the traveller. Firstly, the paper discusses some of the multiple implications attached to the travelling experience in general terms. Secondly, it narrows the scope of the analysis and focuses on Beza’s travels to England – recorded in his works mentioned above – by making a brief analysis of the most significant cultural aspects introduced by Beza for his Romanian readers.

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