Paper short abstract:

A case study of a sea voyage along the Japanese Archipelago by a crew of fugitives in 1771. By cross-referencing various multilingual sources, several intercultural interactions were reconstructed to present multiple perspectives on these local events on the background of the global history.

Paper long abstract:

This paper presents a multilingual investigation into an extraordinary sea voyage along the Japanese Archipelago, performed by a crew of fugitives under the leadership of Maurice Benyowsky, who in the summer of 1771 managed to escape from exile in Kamchatka and while navigating to Macao described various cultures on the way. Unexpectedly these minor events of interaction resonated in various places and times in the global history, as well as in the unfolding literary legend of the crew leader.

　Perhaps it is characteristic for the maritime journey, that at times sea randomly brings various people together and therefore offers a challenge for the linguist/historian to refer to all of the available sources recorded in several languages, just to achieve little more complete picture. This event was usually perceived only from the perspective of Benyowsky's Memoirs and Travels - heavily embellished popular narrative, which alone makes an ambiguous source for the historical enquiry. Hence, in this research project, the narrative of the other crew members recorded in Russian and German, as well as the local Japanese reports were cross-referenced in order to reconstruct the events of interaction between the visitors and the local residents in the places of arrival. Furthermore, Benyowsky's French manuscript, his letters found in the Dutch Archives of Nagasaki, and his map recently discovered in Poland were examined as well.

　Even though this incidental navigation was unlike any future exploratory or diplomatic missions, it still provided European public with some interesting observations on the variety of cultures in the vicinity of Japan. Meanwhile, Benyowsky's obtrusive arrival was not without an impact on Japanese sense of security and understanding of its geopolitical situation. Through various prisms of interests and cultural differences these events were reinvented in the intellectual hubs of Europe or Japan. However, if we shift our focus back to the smaller picture and return voice back to the very characters who lived and experienced this little fragment of history, only then we can try to understand what does this event tell us about their life and the world they lived in.