IDYLICKOSŤ A MALEBNOSŤ V CESTOPISOCH ALOJZA MEDŇANSKÉHO A JOZEFA MILOSLAVA HURBANA

The present paper looks through the prism of picturesqueness as an aesthetic category and the idyll as a genre to examine the way of depicting the sceneries in the travelogues written by Alojz Medňanský (Malebná cesta dolu Váhom v Uhorsku/The Picturesque Journey down the Vah in Hungary, 1826) and Jozef Miloslav Hurban (Prechádzka po považskom svete/The Walk around the World of the Považie Region, 1844). Before the actual analysis and interpretation of particular travelogue extracts, the attention is paid to certain typological similarities/differences of picturesque and idyllic scenery as well as the establishment and development of the aesthetic category of picturesqueness. At the same time the ideological potential of an idyll or the concept of picturesqueness is noticed, while the particular way of fulfilling the potential in the selected texts is monitored. The chosen approach makes it possible to grasp and classify the typology of scenery employed by the writers in question, and also to understand its function within the whole meaning plan of either travelogue. The paper mainly builds on the research and the findings of E. R. Curtius, K. Stibral, C. Jungová and E. Lobsien.