“There will be, there will be – Tsushima! There will be a New Kalka...”: the Image of Japan in the Literature of Russian Symbolism

Abstract

The image of Japan and its place in the literature of Russian symbolism go far beyond the image of a certain country in the perception of another country in a specifi c historical epoch. The theme of Japan occupied an important place in the works of Vladimir Solovyov (1853–1900), Valery Bryusov (1873–1924), Andrei Bely (1880– 1934) and Konstantin Balmont (1867–1942), who were the key fi gures of Russian literature and thought of the Silver Age, who had signifi cant infl uence on the contemporaries. For Solovyov, Bryusov and Bely, Japan was of particular importance not in itself, but in connection with the historical destinies of Russia, its present and future. Whether Japan was a force of positive “progress” or a reactionary “order”, an ally of the West or the “East of Xerxes”, what threat it posed to Russia and how it was connected with Russian revolutionary disaster – those problems were the key-note of the most important works of Solovyov, Bryusov and Bely. However, along with the image of Japan as a “yellow peril” there also existed the image of “picturesque Japan”, which received the most vivid embodiment in the poems and essays of Konstantin Balmont. The article summarizes the author’s studies published for over more than 30 years.