Chistiakov, M.B.: Tales of Travels through Africa

Title

Rasskazy iz puteshestvii po Afrike (vybrannye iz zhurnala dlia detei), Sankt-Peterburg 1897³ (first edition: 1873)

Tales of Travels through Africa (from the journal “Zhurnal dlia detei”)

Keywords

Summary

The volume collects ten short stories set in Africa, published by Chistiakov in “Zhurnal dlia detei” over the course of the years. It includes: A trip to the isthmus of Suez, A few days in Madagascar, The murder of Henri Lambert, The latest geographical discovery of the White Nile spring, A journey to the Nile’s springs, A stroll to the catacombs of El-Maabdeh, Life in Dahomey, The Kalahari and the discovery of Lake Ngami, Negroes in Muslim countries. They are adaptations for children of events that actually happened, adventurous and fictionalised retellings, or simplified essays. The chapters are illustrated with drawings by Valerian Kriukov (1838-1915), engraved by Mikhail Rashevskii; anonymous drawings, presumably of Western origin, are also present.

Bio

Mikhail Chistiakov was a Russian writer, pedagogue and privy councillor. Born into the family of a village priest of the Kaluga district, Chistiakov enrolled at the University of Moscow, where he became a fellow student of Belinskii and Herzen. He graduated in 1832 and soon began to teach at various institutes of present-day Belarus and Lithuania prior to moving to Saint Petersburg. In addition to his significant teaching career, he dedicated himself to children’s literature by founding a journal (“Zhurnal dlia detei”) with colleague Aleksei Razin. The journal, which had a declared Christian orientation, became particularly known for its popular science section, which hosted biographies of prominent figures and stories on the various world populations. Chistiakov published several books for children and essays on pedagogical theories, despite being overtly criticised for his sentimentality and melodramaticism.

Sources

V. R-v, “Chistiakov (Mikhail Borisovich)”, in Entsiklopedicheskii slovar’ Brokgauza i Efrona, t. XXXVIIIa, Sankt-Peterburg 1903, p. 879;

B. Hellman, Fairy Tales and True Stories. The History of Russian Literature for Children and Young People (1574-2010), Leiden 2013, p. 117-119.

A.F.

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