LA FREGATE ET LA MODERNITE

The voyage of the Russian writer, Ivan Gontcharov (1812 -1891) on the frigate Pallada from 1852 to 1855 was a journey of symbolic importance. The author came from a wealthy background, working as a merchant in the family grain business; yet, disillusioned with this, he joined the Pallada and set off on a journey that took him to England, Africa, Japan, and then overland back to Russia. The travelogue he published on his return contained realist descriptions of the societies he encountered, and fascinated Russian readers by depicting the Far East as it really was, un-tinted by the conventions of Romanticism.