THE ROLE OF TOPONYMS IN CREATING THE IMAGE OF THE EAST IN THE 17TH CENTURY MONUMENT "ON THE JOURNEY FROM MOSCOW TO THE PERSIAN KINGDOM..." BY FEDOT KOTOV

Abstract

This article examines the 17^th century travelogue "On the Voyage from Moscow to the Persian Kingdom, from Persia to Turkey, to India, and to Urmuz on the White Sea, Where the Germans Arrive by Ship", by the Moscow merchant Fedot Kotov, completed in 1623–1624. This historical and literary work is presented in the form of a travelogue. The author integrates this work into the thematic unity of Eastern Russian literature, suggesting that the text be analyzed within the context of this multi-genre thematic community. Common elements of Eastern texts include route markers describing the journey to the East and extensive nominations of geographical and man-made landscape features in foreign spaces. In travelogues, the route determines the plot and structure of the text. Routing becomes the basis for the composition of the text of the analyzed monument, establishing periods of movement and stops. Routing becomes the basis for the composition of the text of the analyzed monument, establishing periods of movement and stops. Movement necessitates abundant toponymic nomination and topographical commentary on landscape features, while stops allow the inclusion of ethnographic commentary and pictorial sketches of everyday life related to the history and present of the toponymic object. The travelogue describes the route from Moscow along the Volga and Caspian Sea to Isfahan and Sultaniya; the route from Shamakhi to Turkey; the route from Isfahan to India, etc. An expanded toponymic nomination, indication of distances between points and types of geographical features with descriptions of their features, recreate a pictorial layout of the space, which has an aesthetic effect. The toponym is considered as a sign for designating a landscape feature, natural or man-made, and as an element of the poetics of the work, while commentary on the toponymic object serves as a means of the author's presence in the text.