The Carpathian Travel Narrative

Session Submission Type: Roundtable

Brief Description

Located in the geographical center of Europe, the Carpathian Mountains are often considered a “borderland of borderlands.” For this reason, visitors from near and far have long been interested in discovering the outskirts of their own nations or exploring what lies in the dark heart of Europe, and many of them left written or visual accounts of their encounter with the mountains and their peoples. This roundtable aims to collect and categorize the tropes that emerge in the genre of the Carpathian travel narrative, whether in the 19th century (Dabrowski), 20th century (Kasinec, Hee-Gwone Yoo, and Krafcik), or today (Kupensky). The participants will debate how the impressions of the travelers were shaped by geography (northern vs. southern slopes, highlands vs. lowlands), history and politics (Austro-Hungarian Empire, Poland, Czechoslovakia, USSR), and theories of race, ethnicity, and gender.

Sub Unit

• Literature: Central and Southeast Europe

Chair

• Bogdan Horbal, New York Public Library

Roundtable Members

• Patrice M. Dabrowski, Harvard U

• Edward Kasinec, Columbia U / Hoover Institution

• Patricia Ann Krafcik, Evergreen State College

• Nicholas Kyle Kupensky, United States Air Force Academy

• Hee-Gwone Yoo, New York Public Library

Session Manager

• Nicholas Kyle Kupensky, United States Air Force Academy