Stop-Frames from a Trip to Kutaisi (The Capital of Imereti in Texts from the Second Half of the 19th and Early 20th Centuries)

Abstract

In the present sketch, the research vector is directed towards the area of travel texts published in the second half of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, in which the Georgian city of Kutaisi appears – as outlined by the reflections of travellers going to the region of Georgia and the Caucasus at that time (Arthur Leist, Edward Strumpf, Adam hr. Sierakowski). The texts cited in this sketch have an identical message, a similar writing task: in all of them, the traveller’s perception and sensibility brings out historical truth and a present-day view of the city framed between the past and the new. In the descriptions of the selected authors, it is particularly valuable to combine two perspectives: private, individual (adventures, reflections, experiences of the author himself) with cultural, historical, collective (multifaceted cultural heritage, national identity, economics).