Formation of national cultural myths about Europe in “Letters of a Russian Traveler” by N. Karamzin

The article is devoted to the formation mechanism of national cultural myths about Europe in “Letters of a Russian Traveler” by N. Karamzin. Using the example of four countries, visited by the Russian traveler (Germany, Switzerland, France and England), we explore the main models for creation of national cultural myths. The example of Germany shows the importance of the traveler’s empirical experience in the absence of literary cultural mythology concerning this country. The experience of Switzerland allows the traveler to project his own personal experience on the myth already established in literature, describing Switzerland as the Arcadia of modern times, the country where the “golden age” reigns. The national cultural mythology of France allows the traveler to compare the 18^th-century myth of Francocentric Europe, when France performed the role of cultural hegemon, with the historical realities of the French Revolution, which gradually turn France into an outsider country in the eyes of other European monarchies. N. Karamzin’s world image of England is the most complex version of the national cultural myth. On the one hand, the Russian traveler compares the realities of genuine English life with the image of foggy Albion and its inhabitants, which he formed under the influence of reading English novels in the context of the Enlightenment bibliophilic cultural myth. On the other hand, his analysis of the main national features of the English people allows the traveler to think about identifying himself as a Russian person, to compare the English world image with the Russian one, stating the existence of a number of differences between them.

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