ABSTRACT
During the first decades of the 2000s, environmental issues associated with the Russian Arctic area, including the European Russian Far North, have emerged as among the most alarming environmental concerns globally. This chapter discusses the early phases of Russian Arctic discourse, the 1880s and 1890s, from the perspective of Arctic travel writing. It advocates views concerning the future development of the European Russian Far North, in particular the Barents area, of governmental officials working at different administrative levels. The Russian Arctic discourse has from its beginnings in the nineteenth century been strongly connected with the country’s geopolitical interests and its striving for technological modernization. The chapter deals with the travellers and the worldviews they represent, and their journeys seen in their historical context.
