LANGUAGE PRACTICES AND SYSTEMATIZATION OF INFORMATION ABOUT THE RUSSIAN KINGDOM IN ENGLAND IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE 16th – BEGINNING OF THE 17th CENTURIES

Abstract

The acquaintance of the British with the Russian kingdom and the building of representative models take place in the second half of the 16th century, when the first trade and diplomatic visits were made and reports and notes of travelers were published. Words from the “Russian” language were recorded in the reports of R. Chancellor, C. Adams, D. Hasse and others. The notebooks of J. Tradescant and Richard James serve as examples of texts of the first quarter of the 17th century, the authors of which were busy systematizing and studying individual elements of the Russian space. R. James compiled a dictionary of Russian words with their translation into English and comments of both socio-political and natural science nature. Words from the Russian language were no less valuable for R. James than the rare animals caught and sent by Tradescant to England, and his dictionary demonstrates the existing in the beginning. 17th century connection between learning a language and understanding the world.

Extended abstract:

In the second half of the 16th century, a radical revision of the traditional view of the geographical structure of the world took place in England. Practices of travelogue description were formed. The number of territories discovered by the British through personal experience increased, due to the activities of trading companies. Travellers' reports could contain only a few words of the 'barbarian' language, often confirming the superiority of the English language, but many voyages contain lists of foreign words. Such a list includes an account of the journey to Wardhouse, written by S. Burrough. Along the way he met the Saami, some of whom, he says, spoke Russian. In his description, there is a clear desire to portray them as uncivilised savages, in contrast to the English pioneers. Language otherness was often used by travellers as an indicator of backwardness. One of the first words of the "Russian" language was recorded in the reports of R. Chancellor, C. Adams and others. We can see the interest of the British in Russian culture. And this interest is largely connected with the Christianity and Islam practised in the Russian Empire, the descriptions of which could take the most unusual forms. This interest was also expressed in the form of recognition of the originality of the language. From the first acquaintance of the British with Muscovy, there is also mention of the denominations of coins, measures of weight and units of measurement compiled by John Hasse. The notebooks of J. Tradescant and Richard James are examples of texts from the first quarter of the 17th century, whose authors were engaged in the systematisation and study of individual elements of the Russian space. R. James compiled a dictionary of Russian words with their English translations and comments of a socio-political and scientific nature. For R. James, words from the Russian language were no less valuable than the rare animals that Tradescant caught and sent to England, and his dictionary testifies to the existence of the former. 17th-century link between learning a language and understanding the world. The words recorded by travellers, like exotic animals, transformed frontiers, opened up new levels of previously unknown spaces, and at the same time served as instruments of ideological manipulation, defining for native speakers the characteristics of civilisation or barbarism. It is necessary to consider the practice of recording foreign words in the broader context of early modern British travellogography. It is also necessary to consider the purpose of language at a time when philosophers in England were still debating the possibility of reconstructing the language spoken by Adam and Eve.