engleski

Representations of Militärgrenze in European travel books

This paper will deal with European travel in the 18th and the first half of the 19th century in the rather unfamiliar region of Europe called Military Border or Militargrenze. Since there have been no studies on travel in this region or an extensive list of travelers, I will try to delineate some basic notions and conceptions that arise in such travel books that touch, be it accidentally and only literally be it purposely and physically, upon the Militargrenze. The focus will be on the military aspects that dominate descriptions of Grenze, and the treatment of the region as something extremely foreign, even alien, and liminal to Europe. The key issue is the question of identity of the inhabitants of the border as seen by foreign eyes, as well as the unusual elements (usu. political) of the region. The texts are mostly of Austrian, English and French origin, and texts made by permanently stationed foreign officers are excluded, while travel books and travel guides, even by those who did not visit the region themselves, are included. Therefore, this paper aims at the inquiry of the representational and discursive practices of the travelers as applied to Militargrenze.

military border; travel writing; 18th century

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