This work deals with a theme, which is increasingly becoming popular amongst scholars. It is a theme dealing with Russian pilgrims and travellers, who visited the areas of the Middle East, especially those places, such as Constantinople, the Holy Land, Mt. Athos and others. Under the designation Russian pilgrims we do not mean individuals belonging to a specific ethnic group, but individuals who were related to Russia understood as a political formation and state. The contacts between the south and Russia, have important consequences for the development of Russia itself, its culture, identity and history. This is also the case for the Middle East, where the contacts with Russia determined to a large extent the development and character of this area. The Russian contacts with the south should be primarily viewed in terms of the Byzantine-Russian context. These were based on cultural influences and on a shared faith and identity. The cultural and religious contacts were enabled by travelling individuals, who travelled without and with a specific goal. In the context of these journeys the prime motivation was a religious one, when a pilgrimage to such areas as Constantinople, Mt. Athos, the Holy Land, helped to build a religious identity in Russia, since before the fall of Constantinople, religion...

Walking and writing the world. An approach to modernity in Bohemia and France from the beginning of the 19th century to the 1940's In Christian allegoric texts the Pilgrim traditionally symbolizes the journey of mankind to heaven. From the second half of the 19th century on, poets, travelers, and vagabonds pursued the quest of an afterlife from within city walls. This dissertation examines the different representations of modern wandering via an in-depth analysis of the theme as encountered in French and Czech literature and arts from the early 19th century to the 1940's. It reveals, in chronological order, the different artistic approaches to modernity. By bringing out the various patterns that emerge from the texts, while taking into account the historical and social contexts in which they were created, this work adds to existing knowledge on the cultural similarities between France and Bohemia. It also examines the different literary genres which originate from mankind's need to walk and write the world.

Russian Palestine Diploma thesis Vojtěch Kolář Praha 2013 Abstract This diploma thesis entitled "The Russian Palestine" deals with activities of the Russian Orthodox Church and Russian diplomatic corps designed to help Russian pilgrims to the holy places in Palestine as well as local Orthodox believers in the Levant in the 19th and beginning of 20th century. These activities were accompanied by considerable tension not only between Russian activists in Palestine and in Russia, but also in their encounters with Greek hierarchy in Jerusalem and Constantinople as well as with Western diplomats and missionaries pursuing Catholic and Protestant interests in the same area. The aim of this thesis is to offer an insight into motivations, ways and results of their activities in Palestine and to call attention to the difficulties they were facing. This work is neither an apology nor a criticism of either of the instruments of Russian influence - the Russian Orthodox Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem (since 1847) and Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society (since 1882) respectively. Because of the broadness of the subject it was not always possible to follow strict historiographic methods. Therefore this thesis is concerned mostly with biographical material of some of the most influential Russian personalities of the...

Dans les récits allégoriques chrétiens, le pèlerin est une figure symbolique représentant le parcours de l’Homme vers le Paradis. À partir de la seconde moitié du XIXe siècle, les poètes, promeneurs et flâneurs poursuivent la quête d’un au-delà entre les murs des grandes villes. La présente thèse examine les cas de figures des flâneries modernes. En étudiant des textes qui mettent en scène le thème de la marche, ce travail propose une analyse chronologique des approches de la Modernité dans la littérature et dans les arts français et tchèques du début du XIXe siècle aux années 1940. En étudiant les motifs constituants des récits de promenades modernes et le rôle du contexte historique et social de leur création, cette thèse apporte une contribution à la réflexion sur les parallèles culturels entre la France et la Bohême. En outre, elle livre une analyse de divers genres littéraires nés de la nécessité de l’Homme d’écrire le monde en marchant. / In Christian allegoric texts the Pilgrim traditionally symbolizes the journey of mankind to heaven. From the second half of the 19th century on, poets, travelers, and vagabonds pursued the quest of an afterlife from within city walls. This dissertation examines the different representations of modern wandering via an in-depth analysis of the theme as encountered in French and Czech literature and arts from the early 19th century to the 1940's. It reveals, in chronological order, the different artistic approaches to modernity. By bringing out the various patterns that emerge from the texts, while taking into account the historical and social contexts in which they were created, this work adds to existing knowledge on the cultural similarities between France and Bohemia. It also examines the different literary genres which originate from mankind’s need to walk and write the world. / V krestanských alegorických textech je poutník symbolickou postavou na ceste do Ráje.Od druhé poloviny devatenáctého století básníci, chodci a flânéri, se pokoušejí odhalitskrytou tvár reality na ulicích velkomest. Tato disertacní práce analyzuje podobymoderního poutnictví. Chronologicky razené rozbory del, týkajících se tématu chuze,sledují vývoj tvurcích postoju k modernímu svetu ve francouzské a ceské literature avýtvarném umení od zacátku devatenáctého století do konce ctyricátých let stoletídvacátého. Studiem dílcích motivu moderních poutnických textu, zasazenýchdo historického a sociálního kontextu doby jejich vzniku, tato práce prispívá k prohloubenípoznatku o kulturních paralelách mezi Francií a Cechami. Navíc tato disertace zkoumározlicné literární žánry, pro než byla prvotním impulsem potreba autora jít a psát.