Na peryferiach wielkich miast – casus Sándora Máraia, literata i podróżnika

In this article, I want to focus on the specifics of the travelers experience of Hungarian writer Sándor Márai. I examine this problem based on his sketches From the Journey (Polish edition of 2012) and earlier Patrician’s Confession (2002). I am particularly interested in existential nature of his initiatory journey through Europe and the Middle East, his sensitivity to beauty, but also to the ugliness of the world, as well as the specifics of the search peripherally, small citizens in major cities: Paris, Venice, London and Berlin in 20s and 30s of the twentieth century. Writer much more than urban centers attracted to the antipodes, alleys of poor, beggars and street artists, such as White chapel, London’s poverty. This is due to his perceived alienation and rootlessness experience, characteristic of the immigrant and exile, as well as the knowledge that he is closer to the poor than to the wealthy residents of the centers. The writer has repeatedly mentioned seconds guide book arrangement in which space would be exposed places by passed by tourists, and according to him, more interesting than recommended in the guides monuments and tourist attractions. It can be assumed that the sketches From the Journey is a successful attempt to implement this idea.