Scholarly record

WESTERN EUROPEAN GEOGRAPHICAL KNOWLEDGE OF THE ROMANIAN PRINCIPALITIES IN THE 18TH CENTURY

G. E. Dima

Abstract

Our research starts with a much circulated work of the 18th century, namely Patrick GordonВ’s Geography Anatomized, a geography school book compiled after a new method for that time. Extensively used in Britain, it was also very popular in France and Italy and even reached Eastern Europe. The present paper follows an analysis we have undertaken on the European versions of the book and on the linguistic characteristics of its Romanian translation. Focusing on the texts, we now analyze a particular aspect, namely how the Romanian Provinces are presented throughout the Western European versions of the treatise, thus illustrating the Western perception of Eastern realities. We will then proceed to the Greek and Romanian versions, which alter the text. This procedure can be noticed in the French and Italian translations as well, aiming to better present local realities well known to each translator. Therefore, the way in which the Eastern translators intervened contributes to better outline the local mentalities of that age. Finally, the transfer of information from West to East during the 18th century proves that the Romanian Provinces struggled to keep in contact with Western European news and be part of a European knowledge community.

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