Članak iz kuta europske etnologije i međunarodnog istraživanja
pripovijedanja razmatra nekoliko prosudbi o odnosu stvarnosti i
fikcije, ali i o viđenju sebe i slika tuđine u putopisima i
etnografskoj literaturi. Primjeri tekstova sežu od antike preko
srednjega vijeka u rani novi vijek do baroka i prosvjetiteljstva.
Slike tuđine, što može biti prvi rezultat analize, podudarne su u
međusobno udaljenim vremenima i prostorima. Stvarnost i fikcija,
što je sljedeća spoznaja, ne razlikuju se tako mnogo već se
međusobno plodno razmjenjuju. Bitno je i treće stajalište da
putopise i etnografske izvore valja shvatiti kao kulturne konstrukte
čijem smo stvaranju i mi etnolozi/folkloristi često sami pridonosili
i pridonosimo. Slike tuđine imaju, četvrto i posljednje, uvijek i
jedan ne manje važan dio u stvaranju slika o nama samima te time i
na izgradnju identiteta.The topic of this article is the relationship between reality and fiction but also between
pictures of the self and the other in ethnographic and travel literature. The texts used for
closer analysis are very consciously taken from a wide range of different sources as well
concerning time, space and genre: from Herodotís Historiae to Lukianís Alethes historia,
from Brendan\u27s Voyage to Mandeville\u27s Travels, just to mention the most well known
examples. The combination of ethnologic and folkloristic approach provides at least four
findings: Firstly, pictures of the other are very much alike over time and space. Secondly,
differentiation between true and false can not be our first aim. We have to realize that
reality and fiction are frequently intertwined, even more that there is a fruitful exchange
between both. Thirdly, we have to accept that texts about other cultures or peoples are
cultural constructions and that we folklorists and cultural anthropologists are very often
workers or at least coworkers in these buildings. This leads to the fourth point: Pictures of
the other always play an important role in the creation of identities
