"Travel notes" by Mikhail Pogodin about Kostroma Province
The article about Mikhail Pogodin deals with travel notes published in 1841 in the literary magazine “The Muscovite”. The review is done in the context of the literary genre of travelogue that was widely practiced in the 19th century. Pogodin's journey is viewed as a way of personal identity formation. An important issue was a comparison between the West (as something Other) and Russia, a capital and a province, cities and remote villages. The very first editions of Pogodin's magazine were devoted to his travel notes made in Paris. Later he presented notes about his journey to the Russian North through Nizhny Novgorod, Kostroma and Vologda. There is a part of “Notes” dedicated to the journey across Kostroma Province. The author was interested in daily reality of passers-by, their problems and conversations. At the first opportunity he visited educational institutions, that became a reason for reflection of how and what to teach (both teachers and pupils). He noticed things representing past and also searched for people collecting antiquities. All that may be used in studying of following history branches as Alltagsgeschichte, microhistory, personal history, oral history, memory studying etc.