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Mobile Culture Studies. The Journal 6 2o20 (Travel)
Sandra Vlasta | Enlightening report versus enlightened traveller 33
Moritz reads on his journey and, what is more, writes about his reading. The central work
referenced in Reisen eines Deutschen is John Milton’s epic poem Paradise Lost (1667), which
tells the biblical story of the fallen angel who became Satan, his temptation of Adam and Eve,
and their expulsion from Eden. This was certainly not an insider tip; in fact, Paradise Lost was
well known to German readers thanks to translations by Johann Jakob Bodmer (see Kofler
2007: 1726–1727; Maurer 2010: 22). The detailed quotes of the text in the travelogue further
consolidate Moritz’s image as an expert in English literature, although in this case he restricts
his role as a cultural and linguistic mediator insofar as he cites the original text in English,
which may not have been immediately accessible to all of his readers. With regard to the title
image of the travelogue, Moritz’s reading of Milton is important insofar as it frames the epi-
sode of the visit to the cave and evokes the cover image. When approaching the Peak District,
Moritz shifts from briefly mentioning the fact that he is reading Milton to quoting full passages
from the original text. This is mainly triggered by the landscape, which to his mind resembles
Milton’s description of paradise:
Ich war in Miltons verlornem Paradies […] gerade bis an die Beschreibung des Paradieses gekom-
men, als ich in diese Gegend kam, und folgende Stelle […] tat eine sonderbare Wirkung auf mich,
da sie auf die Naturscene, die ich hier vor mir sahe, so sehr paĂźte, als ob sie der Dichter selbst davon
genommen hätte. (Moritz 2000: 132) [I have got, in Milton’s “Paradise Lost,” […] just to the part
where he describes Paradise, when I arrived here and the following passage […] had a most striking
and pleasing effect on me. The landscape here described was as exactly similar to that I saw before
me, as if the poet had taken it from hence. (Moritz 1795: Chapter XI, no page number)]17
In the following lines, Moritz quotes Milton in English:
– – delicious Paradise,
Now nearer crowns with her Enclosure green.
As with a rural Mound, the Champain [Champion] Head
Of a steep Wilderness, Whose hairy sides
With Thicket overgrown, grottesque and wild.
Access denied. – – (Moritz 2000: 132–133; citing Paradise Lost, Book IV, verse 132)
Only a few pages later, Moritz reaches Castletown, where he has a quick lunch before conti-
nuing his hike to the nearby cave. The following scene at the entrance to the cave establishes a
connection both to the passage from Milton quoted above and to the cover image:
Hier [am Eingang] stand ich eine Weile voller Bewunderung und Erstaunen ĂĽber die entsetzliche
Höhe des steilen Felsens, den ich vor mir erblickte, an beiden Seiten mit grünem Gebüsch bewach-
sen, oben die zerfallenen Mauern und TĂĽrme eines alten Schlosses, das ehemals auf diesem Felsen
stand, und unten an seinem Fuße die ungeheure Öffnung zum Eingange in die Höhle, wo alles
stockfinster ist, wenn man auf einmal von der hellen Mittagssonne hinunter blickt. (Moritz 2000:
140) [I stood here [at the entrance] a few moments, full of wonder and astonishment at the amazing
17 The English translations of Moritz’s travelogue are taken from the 1795 translation Travels, chiefly on foot,
through several parts of England in 1782, described in letters to a friend, available online. It was attributed to
the daughter of Charles Godfrey Woide, though this attribution is uncertain. There is a newer English transla-
tion from 1965 by Reginald Nettel which was republished (1983, 2009) under the title Journeys of a German in
England: A Walking Tour of England in 1782.
>mcs_lab>
Mobile Culture Studies, Band 2/2020
The Journal
- Titel
- >mcs_lab>
- Untertitel
- Mobile Culture Studies
- Band
- 2/2020
- Herausgeber
- Karl Franzens University Graz
- Ort
- Graz
- Datum
- 2020
- Sprache
- deutsch, englisch
- Lizenz
- CC BY 4.0
- Abmessungen
- 21.0 x 29.7 cm
- Seiten
- 270
- Kategorien
- Zeitschriften Mobile Culture Studies The Journal