THE JOURNEY BY FEDOT KOTOV: A RUSSIAN MERCHANT’S VIEW ON PERSIA IN THE 17TH CENTURY

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Category: Hermeneutics of Old Russian Literature: Issue 23
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Abstract:

The article examines the Journey (Hozhenie) by Fedot Afanasyevich Kotov, which reflected his impressions of a trip to Persia in 1623–1624, in the context of the formation of image of this country in Old Russian literature. The origins of tradition of depicting “real” Persia can be found in Afanasy Nikitin’s Journey Beyond Three Seas. It creates an ambivalent image: on the one hand, the abundance of these lands is noted; on the other hand, unfavorable weather conditions. At the same time, Persia is not yet depicted as a unified space and state formation. The transformation of image of Persia takes place in the article lists of the late 16th — the early 17th centuries. In them, the Persian land is portrayed as a powerful, rich state with strong authority of shah. A special role in the formation of image of Persia in Old Russian literature is played Fedot Kotov’s Journey. The work provides the most detailed and vivid description of this country, while developing themes and motifs that appeared in earlier texts. Thus, in it, as in Journey Beyond Three Seas, the image of Persia is ambivalent: it appears as a country of contrasts, the text constantly contrasts presence and absence, emptiness and abundance. In Kotov’s Journey the motif of wealth, which was outlined in the ambassador’s reports by Zvenigorodsky and Brekhov, is also developed. However, despite the motifs of abundance, wealth, and external beauty, this work does not create an utopian image of the eastern country: foreign kingdom and its ruler are accompanied by images of death and destruction. 
Keywords: Journey (Hozhenie) by Fedot Kotov, the ambassador’s reports of the end of the 16th — the beginning of the 17th century, image of Persia, Abbas I.
Author: Natalia A. Demicheva
Information about the author:

Natalia A. Demicheva, PhD in Philology, Senior Researcher, А.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Povarskaya St., 25А, bld. 1, 121069 Moscow, Russia. 

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0572-4887 

E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 
For citation:

Demicheva, N.A. “‘The Journey’ by Fedot Kotov: a Russian Merchant’s View on Persia in the 17th Century.” Germenevtika drevnerusskoi literatury [Hermeneutics of Old Russian Literature]. Issue 23. Ed.-in-chief O.A. Tufanova. Moscow, IWL RAS Publ., 2024, pp. 326–341. (In Russian) https://doi.org/10.22455/HORL.1607-6192-2024-23-326-341 
EDN:

https://elibrary.ru/EVFBNJ
UDC: 821.161.1.0
Publication Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.22455/HORL.1607-6192-2024-23-326-341
Received: 17.01.2024
Approved after reviewing: 20.03.2024
Date of publication: 17.09.2024

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