Perception of Andrei Bely's works in China

Abstract

The paper examines the history of Chinese translations and studies of the artistic creativity and theoretical research of Andrei Bely, as well as comparative analysis of the works of Chinese literary scholars specializing in the study of poetry, prose, as well as the critical heritage of the Russian symbolist. The purpose of the work is to give a complete picture of the state of translations and the degree of knowledge of Bely’s heritage in China, as well as to summarize this existing material, which seems important for subsequent research in this area. In addition, the article traces the stages of development of the study of the works of Andrei Bely, special attention is paid to the perception of the novel Petersburg and its literary criticism by Chinese scholars. An attempt is being made to identify gaps in Chinese literary studies and thus highlight promising lines of development in this area of literary criticism. The work uses comparative historical method, which allows us to determine the influence of Russian modernism, represented by Bely, on the modern literary process in China. Translations of Bely's works into Chinese are not yet a fully studied problem in science, which determines the novelty of the research. It is shown how the approach to the translation of symbolist text has changed and improved, three groups of translations have been identified and considered (translations of poetry, theory and novels), with special attention paid to the translation of novels. As for research, despite the sufficient number of works on Bely in Chinese science, they cannot be considered exhaustive. Our work attempts to highlight both problem areas and achievements of Chinese Bely studies, consider various scientific approaches to understanding Bely’s prose, and concludes that it is necessary to expand scientific tools for a deeper understanding of Bely’s heritage.