Late 19th – Early 20th Century Russia in Ferenc Herczeg’s Travelogues
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31168/2073-5731.2025.3-4.14Keywords:
Travel narratives on Russia, Ferenc Herczeg, Hungarian-Russian relations, Russia’s culture and politics, the genre of culturological travelogues, the reception of Russian culture at the turn of the two centuries, national stereotypesAbstract
The paper aims to introduce Ferenc Herczeg to contemporary Russian public and scholars by presenting a detailed survey of narratives generated by his journey to the Russian Empire in 1900. Herczeg, a primordial conservative, the celebrated ‘prince writer’, who enjoyed tremendous popularity in his native country in the first half of the 20th century, turns out to have been an ardent Russophile, a dedicated and refined admirer of Russian culture (alongside with numerous of his compatriots visiting the Russian empire at the time). His journey was supported by the diplomatic corps of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. Herczeg, who was subsequently erased from Hungarian literary canon from 1945 on due to political circumstances, though he was not implicated in any political or war crimes, is just being rediscovered by scholars in Hungary. According to his travelogues Herczeg was greatly impressed by what he saw in Nicholas II’s empire. He reevaluated 1849’s political clashes between Hungary and Russia, touched upon the sacred key-note of Russian culture and literature, and, last but not least, provided a profound and true account of the two streams of Russian culture. Furthermore, Herczeg’s detached view of Russia, which is later also amply reflected in his theoretical and public discourse, is also prompted by his readings: not only did he proclaim Dostoevsky as an author who pre-eminently influenced his own writings, but he was fascinated with the works of L. Tolstoy, Turgenev, Pushkin, Merezhkovsky and Gorky as well. Coming from a family of Silesian German origin, Herczeg’s specific ideas and experience concerning alternatives of policy in respect of nationalities in his own country vs Russia give an interesting insight into contemporary state of affairs. The traveller’s personal acquaintance with count Komarovsky, a Russian nobleman, whose ancestors had held key positions in diplomacy and domestic affairs, their conversations in Moscow offered him an opportunity to familiarise himself with Russia’s past and present.
Received: 16.05.2025.
Revised: 30.07.2025.
Accepted: 16.09.2025.
Citation
Józsa Gy. Z. Late 19th – Early 20th Century Russia in Ferenc Herczeg’s Travelogues // Slavic Almanac. 2025. No 3–4. P. 269–295 (in Russian). DOI: 10.31168/2073-5731.2025.3-4.14
