Preliminary communication
I, MATE SVJETSKI – AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL RECORDS OF THE FIRST CROATIAN WORLD TRAVELER
Mirna Brkić Vučina
; University of Mostar
Ivana Rašić
; University of Mostar
Abstract
The world traveler Mate Šimunović (1900 - 1969), known as Mate Svjetski, and his dog Globus travelled on foot, by bicycle and by a small sailboat for 36 0000 kilometers. They travelled for 19 years, from 1928 to 1947. They visited 70 countries, thousands of islands in the Indian and Pacific Ocean where Mate met natives who lived in isolation. Everything is documented in his travel book that was signed by many statesmen and famous persons (eg. the poet Tagore, Hoover, the president of the USA) and in 26 diaries. During this epic journey he made several hundreds of photos. His rich travel legacy was collected and published in 2013 by Stipe Božić and Drago Glamuzina in a book titled I, Mate Svjetski.
This book is an example of literary genre fluidity. It combines the elements of travels, autobiography and picaresque. Mate Šimunović is modern picaro, contemporary wanderer. He is an outsider who managed to preserve his inner self and the spirit despite the fact that he was misunderstood. The wandering was the focus of his life and the sense of life he found in the beauty of travel.
Keywords
I, Mate Svjetski; travels; autobiography; picaresque elements.
Hrčak ID:
243308
URI
Publication date:
9.7.2020.
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