A nemzet felfedezésének Odüsszeiája. Magyarok Magyarországon és külföldön, 1750–1850

The Hungarian symbolic map of the country, or the map of the country in themind of individual, loaded with emotions, cultural, political and ideological values,had the national capitals, Upper Hungary, Transylvania, the puszta, Balaton,the Danube and the Tisza, as its main highlights. Thesymbolic map of the worldrefl ected the Hungarian idea of their country located between East and West,overcoming the traces of Asianness and moving along the road of Western civilization.Th is map of the world, travel routes and the focus of travellers’ attentiondepended on travellers’ identities. Thejourneys across Hungary and abroadmarked and at the same time transgressed the real and symbolic boundary linesof the country, the borders of the Habsburg Monarchy and its dominions, andthe edges of civilization/barbarity, which often coincided with the ethnic borderswithin Hungary. Austria was perceived by Hungarian travellers as a part ofEurope in terms of the culture and richness of its museums, but was only a passageto Europe as far as the industrialization and the development of politicalinstitutions was concerned. When travelling across Hungary, “the people movedacross physical space and from one social world to another.” Th eir individualtravel agendas pursued by each traveller made it diffi cult to assign meaning totravel experiences, and often invited criticism from other travellers. As a result ofthe increasing speed and relative ease of moving across this territory, Hungariantravellers redefi ned the “social world’s spatial dimensions,” and re-discovered thesocial groups of rural and urban areas. Like the maps which fi xed the frontierlines, the guide books and travel accounts fixed the travel routes and sets ofobjects to be seen during the journey.TheHungarian gentry and urban non-noble professionals of the fi rst halfof the nineteenth century were moved by patriotism, to be understood asa “middling virtue determined by altruism, goodwill, discernment and uprightness”linked to “a community-related moral-political attitude”, and intended to“organize and personalize” their “country as a place of life for human beings protectedby law”. Travel across Hungary ceased to be a part of the trip to Europe,and acquired its own value and attraction. Trips within the country were journeysof “nationalizing” the landscapes through quoting Hungarian poets, recallingcelebrities and historical events. Travels abroad were the journeys of learningabout the Hungarian past and looking i