'Homo Viator', or on the Motif of Journeys in Medieval and Modern Texts
Medieval Christians perceived themselves as pilgrims, or <em>peregrini,</em> with the concept of pilgrimage identified as the emblem of an individual life’s journey. Thus, for medieval people traveling in time and space had a spiritual dimension. They journeyed not to be amused but to be...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | deu |
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Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń
2019-03-01
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| Series: | Litteraria Copernicana |
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| Online Access: | https://apcz.umk.pl/czasopisma/index.php/LC/article/view/19883 |
| Summary: | Medieval Christians perceived themselves as pilgrims, or <em>peregrini,</em> with the concept of pilgrimage identified as the emblem of an individual life’s journey. Thus, for medieval people traveling in time and space had a spiritual dimension. They journeyed not to be amused but to be spiritually enriched. The aesthetics of travel has recently acquired the status of a popular subject. Together with the rise of post-colonial studies, contemporary literary criticism has taken pains to discuss the issues related to the discovery of new lands and the exploration of hitherto unexplored territories. The present article is a voice in this debate as it investigates the notion of <em>homo viator</em>, man as a “traveling animal”. It analyzes the seemingly contentious concepts of the aesthetics and didacticism of travel found in medieval and contemporary literature in English. In what follows, I will discuss three types of medieval voyages: the final passage, the anchoritic journey within oneself, and the expedition of exploration as manifested in drama, mystical treatises and (the Saracen) romances and their respective renditions by modern authors. |
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| ISSN: | 1899-315X 2392-1617 |