Russia and Japan as an Image of the “Other” on the Pages of British Periodicals of the Early 60s of the 19th Century

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of the socio-cultural perception of Russia and Japan as an image of the “other” in British society in the early 60s of the 19th century. Unlike previous studies of this problem, the source base was the publications of a number of British periodical journals. The choice of Russia and Japan as objects of study is due to the fact that both countries were perceived by English contemporaries as Asian countries with an Asian mentality of their population. However, Russia was also perceived as a Slavic country. In this regard, conducting a fragmentary cross-section of country studies within the framework of the British socio-cultural perception of Japan and Russia may be of interest both for understanding the relationship of Great Britain with these states, and for clarifying the Middle Victorian mentality as such. The article emphasizes that the criteria for the authors’ coverage of the events in Japan and Russia and the life of their peoples were different. With regard to Japan, the articles described not only its state system and the political situation in the country, but considerable attention was paid to Japanese nature, architecture, commerce, everyday life and culture of the Japanese. As for the Russian subjects, the materials were mainly devoted to the domestic and foreign policy of Russia since the beginning of the reign of Alexander II with a constant excursion into the history of the country. In this article, conclusions were drawn that British magazines, creating “Russian” and “Japanese” images, proceeded from the presence of the so-called “Japanese myth”, on the one hand, and on the other hand, from the prevailing stereotypical perception of the Russian people, thereby distorting the real picture of Russia and Japan in the early 60s of the 19th century.