The place and role of Chinese themes in Russian literature of the XIX – early XX centuries

Abstract

The article presents the artistic perception of Chinese culture in the Russian literature of the XIX – early XX centuries. The author sets out to show a generalized image of China in the works of Russian prose writers and poets in a given historical period of time. The relevance of the research lies in the increased interest of modern linguistic science in the problems of intercultural dialogue. It is noted that the study of Chinese subjects in Russian literature is of indisputable interest for understanding the peculiarities of intercultural communication between Russia and China. The multifaceted Chinese culture is revealed through the eyes of Russian writers of the past centuries, who were attracted by Chinese images, plots, and motives. The history of Russian-Chinese relations is traced in the mirror of advanced Russian culture of the XIX – early XX centuries. The tendency to understand China as a unique civilization distinct from the European one, which had already emerged at that time, stands out. It is stated that the substantial development of ideas about China in Russian literature, at the time interval of interest to the researcher, is directly related to the emerging socio-political situation in the Russian Empire, the emergence of alternatives, both in terms of determining the further vector of social development, taking into account the problem of "West – Russia – East", i.e. the emerging situation of internal choice, self–determination and awareness by the ruling circles of the urgent need to work out a further path for the development of Russian statehood, taking into account the borrowing, on the one hand, of the Western, on the other – of the eastern model. This, in the author's opinion, explains the interest of representatives of Russian literature in the culture of the East, spiritual and moral values, philosophical reflections on the nature of goodness and justice, which had a centuries-old tradition in China.