Traditions of N. V. Gogol in prose by Jia Zhifang

Abstract

The subject of the research in the article is the features of the reception of the works of N. V. Gogol in the works of the Chinese writer of the XX century Jia Zhifang. The methods of comparative and structural-semiotic analysis using elements of cultural analysis are used in the work, the method of interpretation of a separate text, the analysis of individual stylistic elements is also used. In the era of the formation of a multipolar world, the study of the reception of the work of Russian writers in foreign-language cultures is becoming especially in demand. Russian classics, true to the traditions of preserving eternal values and giving the key to understanding the Russian national character, remains an object of scientific interest for domestic and foreign researchers. The novelty of the research lies in the fact that the name of the famous Chinese realist writer Jia Zhifang and a number of his works in their connection with the satirical traditions of N. V. Gogol are introduced into scientific circulation for the first time. The phenomenon of Jia Zhifang's "gogolization of prose" involves several components. At the level of the plot, these are direct or indirect references to the elements of N. V. Gogol's works (deceptive "demonic night", misleading the hero, ridiculing the "little man", piling up the "vulgarities of life", changing the "mimicry of laughter" to the "mimicry of sorrow"); roll call of details; the use of elements of fiction. At the level of stylistics, Jia Zhifang, in his novels and short stories, retains the techniques of Gogol's grotesque depiction of reality, the basis of which is the opposition of the "living-dead": puppetry in the portrayal of characters; the satirical technique of "reverse comparison"; the satirical technique of "the logic of the reverse". Preserving Gogol's traditions, Jia Zhifang transforms them, forcing them to work on the disclosure of the author's idea. He uses his own artistic techniques, which together with the details of the objective world allows him to represent the historical epoch, relying on the basic formula of Gogol's works "laughter through tears".