ウェールズ再発見(その6) : ジョージ・ボローと『ワイルド・ウェールズ』

Abstract

Though he is almost forgotten today, George Borrow was a novelist who was as popular as Dickens and Thackeray. He wrote biographical and picaresque novels such as The Bible of Spain and Lavengro. But today his fame seems to rest with his travel book, Wild Wales. Stemming from his strong enthusiasm for everything Welsh, he made a tour of Wales on foot in 1854. Wild Wales is a unique guidebook compared to earlier travel books such as Thomas Pennant's A Tour in Wales. Wild Wales is a biographical travel essay on Wales. In the book, we can see George Borrow as a staunch Anglican who scorns Methodists and teetotalers. We learn he is an extraordinary walker and lovers Welsh poetry as well as ale. Borrow depicted the mid-nineteenth century Wales and its people vividly and successfully. He could immortalize the beautiful country and it poor but warm-hearted people in Wild Wales.