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Introduction
of universal and stadial history emerged in western as well as eastern Europe, the
latter transforming later in various evolutionist models of the development of the
societies and cultures of the world. Such social and cultural processes have been sur¬
rounded by significant images and visual representations expressing, and sometimes
also shaping, those processes. Stadial and evolutionist theories of history are all too
freguently found among the sources of racial distinction and prejudice documented,
unfortunately, from our region and the studied period, too. Plenty of the visual
representations to follow will testify to that feature of the late eighteenth and early
nineteenth centuries in central and eastern Europe.
The very purpose of our investigation was to ask: Is there/was there anything
like "central and eastern European eyes"? What are/were they like? How were they
formed in history? The studies gathered in this book do not provide any single an¬
swers to these questions. They argue for a rather kaleidoscopic character—a multi¬
plicity and heterogeneity—of those “eyes,” as well as of their products, the images
and other representations of the Other. How did the various, and often compet¬
ing, representatives of “eastern Europe” form their own look upon the surrounding
world? It is well known, and the articles included in this volume testify, that a large
portion of intellectuals and other inhabitants of those regions have assimilated nu¬
merous Western ideas. However, a distinctly eastern European “gaze” seems, or
more exactly, “gazes” seem also to exist, and the present volume provides relevant
materials, including both visual and textual examples of them. One of the reasons
behind the present series of publications is a need to supplement the insufficient
amount of knowledge on the subject of “eastern Europe” and its own specific views
of itself and the surrounding world. The idea of “eastern Europe” is not understood
here merely as a construct. Rather, it is treated as a geographical-political notion
that draws together the countries existing outside the center of western Europe—
countries that share, to a certain extent, similar experiences of remaining on the
periphery of Europe.
It is our belief that by way of presenting such diverse material we may be able to
show certain tendencies and turning points in the manner of perceiving the Other
in our region. Despite the many borrowings of western European ideas and arti¬
facts, or even cultural clichés coming from there, the specificities of the central and
eastern European countries seem to allow one to speak about “eastern European
eyes” (in the plural!). The nations, motifs, and themes presented in this volume rep¬
resent the elements of both a general view of “eastern Europe” and its local mani¬
festations and perspectives.
The six chapters into which we have ordered the authors’ articles are based on
such anthropological and historical considerations. Suggesting how closely the
above-mentioned sociocultural processes—and their visual products—relate and
are interconnected, indeed, these chapters do not always fit precisely and exclusively
into just one of the chapter topics. Still, the six-chapter structure provides a reason¬
able framework.