Multiculturality as a Subject of the Image in the Collection of Short Stories “The Stars of Manchuria” by A. P. Hejdok

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the multicultural phenomenon of the short stories by the popular writer of the Harbin diaspora A. P. Hejdok, who published the collection “The Stars of Manchuria” in 1934. The author of the article analyzes in detail the events in the works, the behavioral priorities and mindset of the characters, which organically reflect the cultural elements of China, Russia, Mongolia, Egypt, Manchurian ethnic groups, as well as biblical plots. The emphasis is on analyzing the mysterious world of China through Buddhism and Taoism. During the research, the following short stories in the collection were mainly studied: “Three Duds” (1932), “The Manchu Princess” (1930), “Miami” (1931), “The Temple of Dreams” (1932), “The Unknown” (1931), “The Dogs Howl” (1929) and “The Path” (1931). The article uses descriptive, hermeneutic, comparative, historical-literary and historical-cultural methods to analyze the texts. The scientific novelty of this article lies in the fact that for the first time a comprehensive, interdisciplinary, including cultural, analysis of the short stories in the collection “The Stars of Manchuria” was carried out, details not touched upon in previously published works were examined, and based on the analysis of the multicultural phenomenon, the artistic method in the short stories is determined for the first time. The research resulted in the following conclusions: 1. Hejdok in the collection integrates various cultural details in his own way, which make the works expressive, engaging, and contribute to the development of the plot. 2. The multicultural phenomenon gives the short stories of the collection myth-making characteristics against the backdrop of historical reality. By combining realistic description and this cultural phenomenon, Hejdok creates a distinctive prose similar to magic realism, the appearance of which coincides with the beginning of the writer’s creative path.