Вестник КазНПУ им. Абая, серия «Филологические науки», №4(62) 2017 г.
130
“Qu’ai-je vu de cette charmante ville de vingt mille habitants, bâtie à cent soixante-dix kilomètres de Tiflis,
sur le Gandja-tchaï, un tributaire du Koura, et que j’avais spécialement « piochée », avant mon arrivée ?…
Rien de ses maisons en briques cachées sous la verdure, rien de ses curieuses ruines, rien de sa superbe
mosquée construite au commencement du XVIIIe siècle, ni de sa place du Maïdan [4, 24].
Jules Verne, who had never been to Caucasus did not write his work “Claudius Bombarnac” based on his
own observations. Apparently, his hero studied thoroughly the history and geography of the countries he had
visited and created the real scenery of Azerbaijan.
Alexander Dumas’ step by step journey around our country highlights its culture, literature, customs and
traditions, lifestyle of the people as well as the moments that either impressed him, or sometimes made him
regretful in the newly discovered land; however Jules Verne’s hero is interested in the history and geography
of our country.
While reading the work, it appears that Jules Verne was interested in the history and geography as well as
the architectural style of our country during his train travel through Azerbaijan. While passing through
Ganja, he talks about the ancient buildings and mosques of the city. Jules Verne refers to the Shirvansahs’
Palace when he visited Baku: “The fine architecture of the palace was so fine that it reminded the art of
carving” [1, 35].
Claudius Bombarnac explains his desire and interest in to go to Ateshgah (the temple of fire-worshippers)
while visiting Baku as follows: “J’aurait voulu visiter le fameux sanctuaire d’Atech-Gâh; mais il est à vingt-
deuxverstes de la ville, et le temps m’eût manqué. Là brûle le feu éternel, entretenu depuis des centaines
d’années par des prêtres parsis, venus de l’Inde, lesquels ne mangent jamais de nourriture animale.”
Translation: I would like to go to Ateshgah located 22 miles away, but my time was limited. There is burning
an eternal flame there, and the Indian-born worshippers who do not eat animal flesh protect this flame and
don’t allow the flame to be extinguished for many years” [4, 24].
Voyages to Azerbaijan continued in XIX-XX centuries as well. After the drilling of oil, Baku was
especially in the interest of the West. People travelled from all over the world to Baku and everyone wanted
to see the oil city Baku with their own eyes. Those people were scientists, businessmen and oil magnates.
One of those scientists was Baron De Baye, the famous French ethnographer, geographer, and a member of
the Geographical Society of Paris.
Baron De Baye was interested in the history and geography of Russia populated with different
nationalities and lived for a time-being in Russia with the purpose of journey. His desire to travel to the
Caucasus emerged while living in Russia. He went to Georgia and lived for a period of five years in Tbilisi
and recorded the film of his experiences.
Generally, the 19th century was a complicated period for Azerbaijan, and at that time prominent writers
grew up [5, 126].
Baron De Baye visited Baku, Azerbaijan in 1900-1901s and wrote “Chez les Tatars. De Derbent a
Elisabethpol, Souvenir d’une mission par le Baron de Baye” (Among the Tatars. From Derbent to
Yelizavetpol. Travel memories of Baron De Baye) travel book. De Baye had taken numerous photos while
visiting Derbent, Baku, Guba, Yelizavetpol during his journey to Azerbaijan. Mainly, historical monuments
of Azerbaijan, Palace of Shirvanshahs’, Maiden Tower as well as daily lifestyles of people, simple and hard-
working people had been captured in De Baye’s photos.
Baron De Baye appreciates Azerbaijanis as resourceful, cheerful, realistic, well-educated and hard-
working people in his remarks and talks about our literature and songs as well as historical past with
admiration [6, 115].
Baron De Baye returned to Paris after the completion of the Caucasus trip and printed out his travel
impressions in a “Souvenir du mission de Baron De Baye” brochure. Note that, pictures taken during the
journey are being kept in the Quai Branly Museum in Paris.
Thus, those journey books played a great role in the recognition of the marvelous beauty of the Caucasus,
and rich material and spiritual heritage of the peoples populated there in Europe. Azerbaijan known as a
Muslim country as a part of the Caucasus has been of interest to Europeans since ancient times and opened
the conversation on a wide range in the travel memories mentioned above [7]. Although both Alexandre
Dumas, and Baron De Baye described Azerbaijanis as Tatars, they talked about the beauty of nature in
Azerbaijan, its culture, patriotism of people ranging from seven to seventy and their high human qualities.
They made incomparable contributions to the recognation of Azerbaijan located in the heart of Caucasus
when they left our country for France.
References:
Абай атындағы ҚазҰПУ-нің Хабаршысы, «Филология ғылымдары» сериясы №4(62) 2017 ж.
131
1 Alexandre Dumas. Le Caucase, impressions du voyage. – Montreal: Le Joyeux Roger, 2006. – 700 p.
2 Alexandre Dumas. – Translated by: Shamil Zamanly. – Baku: Qafqaz, 2010. – 493 p.
3 Aliyev A. Eifel Tower of Science. – Baku: Aghridagh, 1999. – 148 p.
4 Bouthier C.,Morisset C. Mille ans de la littérature française. Nathan. – Paris, 2003. – 672 p.
5 Теймурханлы В. Отношение М.Ф. Ахундзаде к литературно-критическим взглядам восточных классиков
(на основе «Месневи» Дж.Руми) // Вестник КазНПУ им. Абая. Серия Филологические науки. – №3(57). – 2016. –
С.126-130.
6 Ismayilov R. Azerbaijani-French literary relations. – Baku: Azerbaijan National Encyclopedia, 2001. – 349 p.
7 Verne J.,Claudius Bombarnac.Carnet d`un reporteur.Éditions électronique “EBooks libres et gratuits”. – Janvier,
2006. – 309 p.
А.И. Алиева
1
1
Гянджа Мемлекеттік университеті,
Гянджа қ., Әзірбайжан
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