Rocznik Komparatystyczny

This essay compares the original text, published in 1768 in Riga and Mitau, with its anonymous Russian translation as Priključenija četyrech rossijskich matrosov k ostrovu Špicbergenu burej prinesennych. In Russia this was read mainly within a learned or patriotic discourse, thus the central question here is how the translation transformed the hybrid German text and the way it constructs perception and judgment, affecting the encounter between the author and Russia. As a wanderer between cultures who was in Russian service for a long time, Le Roy adopted the pragmatic view of science dominant in academic discourse; however, as a man of the Enlightenment, with his own convictions rooted in pietism and in sensualist currents, he reflects historical and aesthetic matters connected with the prospects of the Enlightenment in Russia. The epigraph derived from Heliodorus “Inventrix consiliorum omnium est necessitas” (“Necessity is the inventor of all counsel”) as well as the introduction and an afterword suggest that this is a highly complex work in which the well-versed classicist Le Roy uses a tale set in the polar region paradigmatically to speculate on the requirements for realizing Enlightenment ideas in Russia and the chances of succeeding, giving voice to transgressive visions in the process.