Sakupljač svjetova
A romanticized biography of British adventurer Sir Richard Francis Burton. Three great journeys (India, the Hajj to Mecca, Africa, and the search for the source of the Nile) told from the perspectives of his Indian, Arab, and African companions/guides.
The Collector of Worlds (2006) by Ilija Trojanow (Bulgarian-born, born 1965, nomadic writer) is an award-winning historical novel inspired by the life of Sir Richard Francis Burton (1821–1890), the legendary British explorer, polyglot, spy, translator of One Thousand and One Nights and erotic works.
The novel is not a classic biography, but a polyphonic account in three main parts: each focusing on one of Burton's key journeys, told from the perspective of his "native" companions and guides.
- Part One: India in the 1840s – Burton in a British army uniform, but disguised as a Muslim, learns languages, customs, absorbs culture; the narrator is an Indian servant or friend who sees his ambivalence.
- Part Two: The Hajj to Mecca in 1853 – Burton disguises himself as an Afghan pilgrim, risking his life to enter the forbidden city; the narrator is an Arab guide who witnesses his courage and obsession.
- Part Three: Africa in the 1850s – an expedition with John Hanning Speke in search of the sources of the Nile; conflicts, disease, rivalry; the narrator is an African porter or companion who sees Burton as a stranger who "collects worlds" but never fully understands them.
Trojanow uses oriental storytelling traditions – stories within stories, fantasies, polyphony – to show the clash of East and West, colonial perspective and cultural appropriation. Burton is portrayed as an eccentric: a brilliant polyglot and adventurer who crosses borders, but also a colonizer who "collects" cultures like trophies. The novel is rich in detail, linguistically opulent, with deep insights into identity, disguise, and imperialism.
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