Gjuro Ferrich’s Periegesis orae Rhacusanae (1803) as a Travel Polemic

Abstract

Gjuro Ferrich’s Periegesis orae Rhacusanae (1803) has been read as a description of Ragusa’s territories, as a sarcastic commentary on Ragusan manners and morals, and as a poetic paraphrase of physiocratic ideas. Now a hitherto unstudied letter from the author suggests that it should also be read as a ‘counter-travelogue’, a polemical reply to a foreign account of Ragusa. This study sets Ferrich’s Periegesis in context, examining its relationship to Francesco Maria Appendini’s Notizie (1802-03); the different models Ferrich may have drawn upon in framing his text; and the insights into particular images provided by a polemical reply to Ferrich composed by Marin Zlatarich. Ferrich’s Periegesis emerges as a ‘discreet’ polemic, with different messages addressed to its domestic readers on the one hand and its foreign audience on the other.