Apodemics

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As apodemica is called theoretical traveling instructions. The term apodemic has found its way into the German and from there into the European language area via the Greek word ἀποδημέω ( Inf. Ἀποδημεῖν). It basically means "to be on the road". The writing and use of apodemics begins in the early modern era and ends with the dawn of modernity. Today the term and the literary genre are largely unknown.

Origin and development

Travel instructions in general are as old as the usefulness of them. For a long time, travel instructions for emissaries on economic or political missions had been the most well-designed travel guide. For example, for the first Vatican contact with the Mongolian Empire towards the end of the 13th century, two selected contact persons were trained six months before their departure for the trip and their reporting and specially trained in reporting and observing.

The travel instruction in the form of an apodemic was introduced in the literary genre from which it later gave its name. It is a creation of graecizing humanism . The term apodemic was probably first used by a Bavarian doctor in 1577. Even if apodemic writings were written shortly before the term was introduced, it was Theodor Zwinger the Elder who used the term apodemic in the title of his work on travel theory, one of the first uniformly based on travel theory.

Since that time those tracts have been called apodemics, which give instructions for correct observation, behavior and description and additionally contain methodical and historical reflections on traveling. In the time that followed, a large number of writings appeared which were either pure travel instructions of an apodemic nature or at least contained chapters on "correct" travel.

Origin context

Apodemics can only be understood as a literary genre of its time if one does not neglect the very decisive facts of this epoch. On the one hand, there is the split in the church and the incipient, interwoven humanistic secularization of Christian values ​​in the course of the Enlightenment.

The Catholic veneration of saints, together with the cult of relics, was the main reason for the classical pilgrimage . Pilgrimages have been an integral part of religious life for centuries. They took place on a large scale, e.g. B. as a trip to the holy land of Israel, or on a smaller scale, z. B. as a pilgrimage to local pilgrimage sites . This type of travel is not without controversy in the late Middle Ages. While it was the most common form of non-utilitarian travel to date, it was attacked by reformers and intellectuals alike in the early modern period , as reports of such journeys often offered more occasion for bragging rights and numerous adventures than for portraying spiritual experiences. This conception of travel stood in contrast to the heightened moral and virtuous concepts of the emerging Protestantism . From this point of view, the motives of an ideal humanistic journey could no longer be justified religiously. Not that the real extent or the intentions of travel have actually changed suddenly - it was more an intellectual discourse that slowly, with changing socio-structural , global, power-political and religious changes on travel behavior, as well as the preparation and follow-up of travel Influenced and reflected in contemporary literature. This "background matrix", which arose from religious motivations, was supplemented by other historical factors that favored the emergence of apodemics.

In the age of humanism , the educated elites faced a new phenomenon - that of the rapid and enormous increase in diverse knowledge. Book printing and the exploratory and expansive endeavors of the major European powers brought with them a flood of new knowledge and the possibility of faster archiving of it. The information obtained through travel reports has been cataloged. In the tradition of JL Vives (1492–1540) one began to sort all notes with practical use and interesting facts according to special subjects. The resulting collections of knowledge were the first forerunners of the later encyclopedias .

The necessity for the existence of apodemics is illustrated here by a contemporary commentary.

“… Even if the countries do not change / as far as their status and status are concerned / they change in the state / that the boundaries […] / the mores / customs / clothing and customs / the religions / the regiment / different / yes a lot Orthe even disheveled and abandoned / others created / built / or the built buildings are fortified and changed / which then gives us a great deal of useful and necessary gain [...]. "

Three peaks can be identified in the frequency of appearance of printed apodemics. The first phase covered the years 1611–1620. The reason for the increased reception is attributed to the interest of late humanist educational travelers. The second phase extends between the years 1661–1720. Here the increased volume can be explained by the heyday of the cavalier tour . A final culmination of the number of first appearances occurs between 1781 and 1800, which is related to the educational trips of the members of the enlightened bourgeoisie and the associated boom in the associated reading material.

The disappearance of apodemics

The market for this type of literature is inevitably limited and closely linked to the type of travel. Europe was traveled more and more extensively and intensively. In the course of time, more and more findings could be assessed as known. The long-term regional peculiarities did not change so quickly, however, that they had to be recorded anew with each visit. In addition, general travel practice now developed in different directions. On the one hand, with the disappearance of the apodemic literary genre, at the beginning of the 19th century, tourism emerged , which by definition no longer required any theoretical "accompaniment". On the other hand, the micro-phenomena of geography, biology, ethnology , economics, religion, etc. were increasingly being visited by specialists. In this way, the scientific research trip emerged as a new type of travel, which also no longer required apodemic guidance. Thus, by the middle of the 18th century, interest in this type of literature died out in Italy and France. A market for apodemics could exist in Germany for another fifty years. The publication of Franz Posselt's mammoth work - Apodemics or the Art of Travel - marks a clear end here too.

The structure of an apodemic

The following can be identified as essential components of an apodemic: At its beginning, the journey is defined, i.e. what should be understood by travel. This is followed by a discourse on the benefits or harms of such ventures, which is concluded by referring to the “correct travel” in favor of the company. The following part contains advice for the traveler and covers a practical part and a theoretical part. The practical includes guidelines on nutrition, travel times, travel routes and general information on how to prepare, follow up and carry out the trip. The theoretical part is presented in the form of a catalog-like scheme of questions, which should facilitate the recording of the strange and worth seeing by asking the observer questions about what has been seen. Under the premise of wanting to cover all of these worth knowing categories, questionnaires were created which, due to their size, are more reminiscent of a "maximum program" for the traveler and in principle could not be mastered by anyone. As a result, the requirements for practical implementation were regularly reduced.

Differentiation from other travel literature

Apodemics are works in which teachings on correct travel are presented. They reflect the practical purpose of travel. This purpose always implies a practical improvement in travel through detailed behavioral and observation specifications. In terms of content, they are always aimed at the traveler. As a result, the literature that tends away from reflection and towards exclusively practical assistance is not included. So have z. B. course books , technical instructions, statistical travel literature, route books, medical advice, or religious pilgrimage assistance no theoretically instructive, reflective and instructive character. These are more comparable to today's travel guides (based on the Baedeker model ) and can therefore be distinguished from the apodemics. State descriptions and ordinary travel reports do not fall into the scope of this genre. Although apodemic traits can be identified in these, a few pages are often devoted to "correct travel" in general treatises on the wisdom of life, without being able to be assigned to the apodemics with their theoretical travel methodology in a stringent sense.

Impact history

The merit of having processed the apodemics as a type of text within historical travel literature undoubtedly goes to Justin Stagl . However, the high number of his publications on the subject also means that only a few texts on the apodemics that were not influenced by him exist. This is particularly noticeable with regard to research on the reception of apodemics, for example. Stagl cites two arguments for the power of apodemics he claims to have on the travel behavior of its readers: first, the large number of authors, including thinkers of high standing in their time, who devoted themselves to the writing of such works, and second, the associated number of copies. In his opinion, there would hardly have been so many publishers who would have taken the financial risk of publication if the books had not attracted attention in the literary market. To some, this may seem insufficient as evidence of their practical use. The thesis that an apodemic is also more likely to be owned and read than to actually be a pioneering companion when traveling seems also credible.

Selected sources

  • Georg Christoph von Neitzschitz: Seven-year-olds and dangerous world view through the most distinguished three parts of the world Europe, Asia and Africa. Worbey everything / every place worth remembering has been diligently researched and recorded, such things never come to light before. Baumann, Budißin [ie Bautzen] 1666. Digitized and full text in the German text archive

literature

  • Maria Kostaridou: Hodoeporicon, Periegesis, Apodemia: Early Modern Greek Travel Writing on Europe. In: Wendy Bracewell, Alex Drace-Francis (Eds.): Balkan Departures: Travel Writing from Southeastern Europe. Berghan, New York / Oxford 2009, pp. 25–46
  • Justin Stagl: Apodemics. A reasoned bibliography of the travel-theoretical literature of the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries . Schöningh, Paderborn 1983, ISBN 3-506-76962-6 ( digitized version )

Web links

Wikisource: Apodemics  - Sources and Full Texts

Footnotes

  1. ^ Münkler, Marina: Experience of the Stranger. The description of East Asia in the eyewitness accounts of the 13th and 14th centuries. Berlin 2000, p. 87.
  2. ↑ See Stagl, Justin: Apodemiken. A reasoned bibliography of the travel-theoretical literature of the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. Vienna 1983, p. 8.
  3. ↑ Hieronymus Turler published the first apodemic work, but without using the term apodemic in the title, in 1574. Cf. Stagl, Justin: Apodemiken. A reasoned bibliography of the travel-theoretical literature of the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. Vienna 1983.
  4. ↑ Theodor Zwinger, Methodvs Apodemica In Eorvm Gratiam, Qvi cum fructu in quocunq [ue] tandem uitae genere peregrinari cupiunt: Cum Indice / Methodus apodemica in eorum gratiam, qui cum fructu in quocunque tandem vitae genere peregrinari 1577 cupi.
  5. ↑ Stagl, Justin: The methodization of traveling. From pilgrimage to educational journey, In: Stagl, Justin: A story of curiosity. The art of traveling 1550 - 1800. Vienna 2002, pp. 71–74.
  6. ↑ Pumpkin, Holger: Hispania descripta, From the journey to the report. German travel reports from the 16th and 17th centuries about Spain. A contribution to the structure and function of early modern travel literature. Frankfurt a. M. 2004, p. 347.
  7. ↑ Neitzschitz, Georg Christoph von: Seven-year-old and dangerous WeltBeschauung by the chief Drey part of the world, Europe, Asia and Africa. Worbey everything / every place worth remembering has been diligently researched and recorded, such things never come to light before. Budissin [ie Bautzen] 1666, p. 7.
  8. ↑ Stagl, Justin: Apodemics. A reasoned bibliography of the travel-theoretical literature of the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. Vienna 1983, p. 119.
  9. ↑ Stagl, Justin: The "Patriotic Traveler" of Count Leopold Berchtold and the end of apodemics. In: Griep, Wolfgang: Seeing and Describing. European travel in the 18th and early 19th centuries Century. Heide 1991, pp. 213-223.
  10. ^ Posselt, Franz: Apodemics or the art of traveling. A systematic attempt to use young travelers from the educated classes in general and budding scholars and artists in particular. 2 volumes, Leipzig 1795.
  11. ↑ See in detail, Stagl, Justin: Die Methodisierung des Reisens. From pilgrimage to educational journey, In: Stagl, Justin: A story of curiosity. The art of traveling 1550 - 1800. Vienna 2002, pp. 95–116.
  12. ↑ See Stagl, Justin: The well-instructed passenger. The art of travel and descriptions of society from the 16th to the 18th century, in: Krasnobaev, Boris I. (ed.): Travel and travel descriptions in the 18th and 19th centuries as a source of cultural relations research, Berlin 1980, pp. 367–369.
  13. ↑ , Stagl, Justin: The methodization of traveling. From pilgrimage to educational journey, In: Stagl, Justin: A story of curiosity. The art of traveling 1550 - 1800. Vienna 2002, pp. 95–116.
  14. ↑ Pumpkin, Holger: Hispania descripta, From the journey to the report. German travel reports from the 16th and 17th centuries about Spain. A contribution to the structure and function of early modern travel literature. Frankfurt a. M. 2004, p. 347 ff.