Representation of Public Life of European Countries in the Georgian Travel Journalism of the 19th Century

Abstract

In the 19th  century, the change in Georgia's political status and political vector led to a shift in cultural reference points and, in general, socio-cultural thinking, manifested in the Europeanism of Georgian journalism of this period as cultural universalism. Thus, Georgian Europeanism and the tendency of Europeanization are the main characteristics of Georgian journalism of this era, which can be traced both in journalistic articles of Georgian authors and in travel texts published in the Georgian press of that time. The paper studies samples of travel journalism published in the Georgian press in 1860-1890s and analyzes Georgian travel texts from different aspects, which clearly reflected the features of Europeanization of Georgian journalism of the XIX century. The research topic has not been studied, so it is new and unprecedentedly important from the point of view of cognizing the era and understanding the historical context. The i impressions from the trips to European countries of prominent authors Petre Nakashidze, Niko Nikoladze, Sergei Meskhi, Giorgi Kochakidze, Niko Tskhvedadze and Shakro (I. Vachnadze), which at different times were published in such important periodicals as "Sakar"velos Moambe," "Dr"eb", "Iv"ri" and "Kvali," were" chosen for the study.   It should be noted that based on the cultural and value vector of the Georgian press of that time, the European countries of the 19th  century, the peculiarities of their social and cultural life were always the object of special interest of Georgian publicists, so the travel works of the named authors serve to define the same vector and are considered in the same context. It should be noted that the travel notes under study differ in terms of the compositional and stylistic features of the texts. The s specifics of the authorauthors'ption of the environment are also different, although content analysis of the works confirms that all the named authors are driven by one main goal - to familiarize, understand, and provide the reader with information about the social, political, and cultural life of European countries: France, Germany, Switzerland, Poland, Finland, Austria, to excite their interest, to share various useful impressions, which could significantly serve the development and progress of Georgia and Georgian society of that time. Due to the specificity of travel journalism, the texts about traveling are marked by time.  "Tra "matters" by Petr" Nakashidze published in the magazine “Sakar the" os Mo,” be,” "On Fo"t "nd by Rail - Notes of a Traveler" by Niko"Nikoladze, "Geor gian" in Europe" ("N otes"an" Thoughts of a Newbie Traveler") by S. "ski and "Feuillet"n: Cold News" by  Gior Ii Kochakhidze published in the newspaper “D,”e ba” wells well" as "Shor t No" es from Abroad" by Niko"Tskhvedadze and "Travel Ccorrespondencess: Warsaw" by Shak"o (I. Vachnadze) published in “I,”r a,” as examples of travel journalism, belong to literary journalism and are characterized by the following typical features: factuality, thematic diversity, subjective perception of the author, publicist accents. Despite the fragmentary, mosaic style of narration, the works are characterized by compositional integrity. The authors use narrative reports, thematic reviews, commentaries, and essayistic inserts. Also,    the narrative space of texts about travel includes individual characters, dialogues with whom, episodes, and land situations, enriching these texts with artistic narrative elements and giving particular connotations. These authors aim to familiarize the Georgian reader with a geographical and social space unfamiliar to him but beautiful in the author's eyes. It sh be noted that in addition to the interests and motives of travel, travel writers are distinguished by their individual, subjective perception of European countries, which is also a characteristic feature of travel journalism. Travel writings coauthor vi that only Europeanization of social life within the Russian Empire could bring development and progress. A modern variant of travel texts is the so-called travel journalism, which is characterized by the description of the life of individuals and geographical places. In an ad, travel journalism is essential for studying transcultural spaces. Based on the contemporary relevance of travel journalism, it is crucial to evaluate the rich historical experience of Georgian travel journalism of the 19th century and its conceptualization. The research process includes archival work - search for publications, their systematization and classification, and qualitative content analysis of texts, allowing analyzing and interpreting them to highlight certain themes, emphases, or trends. The r   arch problem in the work is studied comprehensively and is based on contextual knowledge, current events, and processes. As a result of the study, the main features of travel writings are identified,anddhighlightgand highlightedy is used as a theoretical frameworkWith the helppp of such thodhelpit will be possible to study Georgian travel writings of the 19th  century in the light of such topicaissuesas thee thurbanizationon of the urbanizationltural integration with European countries, the foundation of which was laid by the classical experience of Georgian journalism.