윌리엄 바트람의 『여행기』에 나타난 미국의 야생의 공간 (재)규정

Abstract

In the late 18th century, William Bartram travelled in southeastern places of North America. Almost travelling alone, he observed, examined, collected, recorded, and cataloged various natural objects in the places. Travel, which is a result of his journey into wilderness, is structured in the two modes of travel narrative and natural historical description. Adopting the system of taxonomy established by Carolus Linnaeous, Bartram universalized and classified American natural objects, and also tried to represent them to people at home and abroad. The American landscape which the author encountered and experienced during his journey is represented in travel narrative. Bartram combines the two modes to try to define and describe scenes, lands, and territories of America which already existed there but are not described yet, and thus are simultaneously universal and unique. Bartram finds the land of America vast, fertile, abundant, wild, and innocent. This essence, he thinks, would distinguish America from other countries and then contribute to form a new identity as America. For him, the American wilderness is natural and cultural resources. Bartram imagined a new nation to be based on this nature and his new country was embodied in the notion of “middle landscape.” While it is written in a scientific mode, Travel can be said that it (re)defined territories where a new country would exist.