Turgenev’s traditions and motifs in the collection “Dragons, Tigers and Dogs” by Ba Jin

Abstract

The subject of this research is the adoption and development of the motifs of I. S. Turgenev’s “Poems in Prose” in the lyrical collection “Dragons, Tigers and Dogs” by Ba Jin, who was dubbed “China’s Turgenev”. Attention is focused on the analysis of literary techniques adopted by Ba Jin from Turgenev, such as: narrative methods, motifs of the dreams, latent psychologism and profound psychologism of the landscape, symbolism, and fundamental musicality of the text. The research material contains the lyrical cycles of both writers, author's commentaries, journal articles published in Russia and China dedicated to examination of Turgenev's impact upon the Chinese writers. The article employs the historical-functional and comparative methods of analysis. The author is first to explore the influence of Turgenev's “Poems in Prose” on the works of Ba Jin, which defines the scientific novelty of this research. Ba Jin's scrutiny of Turgenev's “Poems in Prose”, during his work on translations, is reflected in his collection on the level of symbolism and the choice of motifs, command of language and literary style overall. The musicality of Turgenev's “Poems in Prose” encouraged Ba Jin to pursue the new artistic expressiveness of the language. The aesthetic peculiarities of Turgenev's “Poems in Prose” are consonant with the traditions and aesthetic requests of the Ancient Chinese literature, which justifies the enduring popularity of Turgenev’s works in China.