scholarly journals From miracle-play to carnival: Chinese New Year holidays in Bulgakov’s M.A. novella “The Fatal Eggs”

Neophilology ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 71-81
Author(s):  
Vladimir V. Kolchanov
Keyword(s):  
Chinese Text ◽  
National Economy ◽  
Chinese Culture ◽  
Peach Tree ◽  
Close Attention ◽  
The West ◽  
Festive Culture ◽  
Chinese Official ◽  
Internal Policy ◽  
Mass Hysteria

Chinese allusions of New Year and the Lantern Festival used by M.A. Bulgakov in the 6th chapter of the novella “The Fatal Eggs” are studied. White and black ritual magic, mythological images of Chinese agricultural calendar are considered from the perspective of Chinese festive culture and its carnivalization: Peach tree, “Fire judge”, “White inconstancy” and “Black inconstancy”, “Purple girl”. The mythopoetic analysis of the novella involves a “fantastic and satirical” novel by a medieval Chinese writer Wu Cheng’en “Journey to the West” (1590). It is shown how M.A. Bulgakov inscribes this unusual, exotic, religious work that captures the basics of Chinese culture in his text. In addition to the mythological content, the allusions analysis sphere on the Chinese text involves the image of a medieval Chinese official, Chinese etiquette, a celebratory feast, street and areal decorations of the spectacle and jollification. The miracle-play character of the novella is researched. Not only the rituals of summoning the gods, demons, and spirits of the dead are described, but also the traditional for all the miracle-plays initiation of the “neophyte”, one of the main stages of which is the catabasis (descent into hell), called by C.G. Jung as the archetype of “the knight's departure into the dark”. The main character’s path to the Chinese tartarus of the novella by Professor V.I. Persikov turns out to be such a catabasis, shown in a parody key. Close attention is paid to such a modernist method of depicting Russian reality as the method of collision/interference of times. Chinese carnival “madness” is becoming a real Russian madness associated with the reforms of the national economy. Therefore, a special place in the study is giv-en to the satirical means analysis of influencing the viewer: elements of eccentricity, comedy play, parody and grotesque. In this field of Bulgakov’s caustic satire lies, we think, the image of the “the world’s first socialist state” founder V.I. Lenin and the internal policy of the leaders who replaced him, announced the beginning of the Russian peasantry destruction era and the beginning of the collectivization and agriculture mechanization era. The phantasmagoria genre, manifested in the mass hysteria of Muscovites and blazing fires from burning mountains of dead chickens, also strengthens the satirical character of the story.

The Diagnosis and Prevalence of Hyperactivity in Chinese Schoolboys

1996 ◽  
Vol 168 (4) ◽  
pp. 486-496 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick W. L. Leung ◽  
S. L. Luk ◽  
T. P. Ho ◽  
Eric Taylor ◽  
Felice Lieh Mak ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chinese Population ◽  
Chinese Culture ◽  
Diagnostic Assessment ◽  
Population Estimates ◽  
Hyperkinetic Disorder ◽  
Prevalence Rates ◽  
The West ◽  
Second Stage ◽  
Stratified Sample ◽  
Icd 10

BackgroundThis study was undertaken to examine the validity of different diagnostic definitions of hyperactivity in a Chinese population. Estimates of the prevalence of hyperactivity were made according to these different diagnostic definitions.MethodIn a two-stage epidemiological study of hyperactivity in Hong Kong, 3069 Chinese schoolboys were screened by questionnaires; and a stratified sample of 611 of them entered a second stage for more detailed diagnostic assessment.ResultsChildren with hyperkinetic disorder (ICD–10) or ADDH (DSM–III) both displayed significant hyperactive symptoms, but with somewhat different external correlates; hyperkinetic disorder tended to show more neurodevelopmental impairments, ADDH more cognitive and educational difficulties. These findings raise the possibility of heterogeneity in the disorders present with hyperactivity. The DSM–III–R category of ADHD was more common, and those extra cases, that did not overlap with ADDH or hyperkinetic disorder, included children with no obvious behavioural, cognitive or neurodevelopmental impairments. Hence ADHD may be an over-inclusive category. Prevalence rates for hyperkinetic disorder, ADDH and ADHD were respectively 0.78%, 6.1% and 8.9%.ConclusionsA disorder of hyperactivity does exist in the Chinese culture, displaying the same kinds of symptomatology and external correlates as in the West. The prevalence rates of hyperkinetic disorder and ADDH in Chinese schoolboys are on the low side when compared to those reported in Western studies.

scholarly journals From Social Justice to Metaphor: The Whitening of Othello in the Russian Imagination

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (38) ◽  
pp. 75-89
Author(s):  
Natalia Khomenko
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
First Century ◽  
Soviet Period ◽  
Close Attention ◽  
The West ◽  
Racial Conflict ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
White Face ◽  
Cultural Fantasy

Othello was the most often-staged Shakespeare play on early Soviet stages, to a large extent because of its ideological utility. Interpreted with close attention to racial conflict, this play came to symbolize, for Soviet theatres and audiences, the destructive racism of the West in contrast with Soviet egalitarianism. In the first decades of the twenty-first century, however, it is not unusual for Russian theatres to stage Othello as a white character, thus eliminating the theme of race from the productions. To make sense of the change in the Russian tradition of staging Othello, this article traces the interpretations and metatheatrical uses of this character from the early Soviet period to the present day. I argue that the Soviet tradition of staging Othello in blackface effectively prevented the use of the play for exploring the racial tensions within the Soviet Union itself, and gradually transformed the protagonist’s blackness into a generalized metaphor of oppression. As post-collapse Russia embraced whiteness as a category, Othello’s blackness became a prop that was entirely decoupled from race and made available for appropriation by ethnically Slavic actors and characters. The case of Russia demonstrates that staging Othello in blackface, even when the initial stated goals are those of racial equality, can serve a cultural fantasy of blackness as a versatile and disposable mask placed over a white face.

scholarly journals Translation and Spreading of Folk Culture: The Case of The Last Quarter of the Moon

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 258-265
Author(s):  
Xiaowei Zou ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Chinese Culture ◽  
Cultural Communication ◽  
Translation Theory ◽  
The Moon ◽  
Folk Culture ◽  
The West ◽  
Positive Role ◽  
Translation Strategies ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Right

With the deepening of globalization, mutual cultural communication has become a trend. China's comprehensive national strength is constantly increasing and its influence is also expanding. In the process of cultural communication, Chinese folk culture works are gradually favored by western readers and become one of the channels for the west to understand China. The Right Bank of Argun (2005) is the work of Chi zijian, a Chinese female writer who has won many awards. It was translated by American Sinologist Bruce Humes into English, renamed The Last Quarter of the Moon, and finally published in The United Kingdom in 2013. The spread of The Last Quarter of the Moon around the world is conducive to the spread of Chinese culture and plays a positive role. This thesis takes Susan Bassnett’s cultural translation theory as the theoretical basis, combines the analysis of related translation strategies, and analyzes the relevant corpora through examples, intensive research on the translation of folk culture in The Last Quarter of the Moon.

scholarly journals Specific Features of Festive Culture in Modern China

ICONI ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 184-197
Author(s):  
Tamara A. Artashkina ◽  
◽  
Shang Bofei ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Chinese Culture ◽  
Modern China ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Cultural Meaning ◽  
Basic Category ◽  
Festive Culture ◽  
National Minorities ◽  
History Of ◽  
Political Conditions ◽  
Cultural Functions

The history of XX-century China can be divided into several periods that greatly altered the path of China’s historical development: Xinhai Revolution, Anti-Japanese war, civil war, establishment of PRC, Cultural Revolution, policy of reforms and openness. Uneven development of contemporary China has had its infl uence on Chinese holidays. The authors consider the concept of “national holidays of China” a basic category. In the Chinese language, a “holiday” is an unusual day or days connected with something. All national Chinese holidays fall into two categories: government and popular. Chinese government holidays include offi cial holidays established by law; they are days-off for all Chinese citizens. Currently there are 7 government holidays in China and many popular holidays. Popular holidays include traditional holidays, occupational or social holidays, holidays of national minorities or others. Not all Chinese citizens have days-off during these popular holidays. There are two aspects of cultural problems in modern China: a big gap between urban culture and rural cultures; there is a problem of active borrowing and introduction of Western culture into the national culture of China. In particular, many western holidays have intervened into the tissue of Chinese culture. However, western holidays do not alter the cultural meaning of Chinese traditional holidays; they have acquired Chinese features and enriched the life of young Chinese people. Chinese festive culture is transformed within the following areas: traditional holidays are replaced with innovative ones; modern holidays are formed under the infl uence of new social and political conditions and cultural globalization; transformation of traditional holidays changes either their quantity or their content and cultural meaning. However, the authors have come to the conclusion that despite the transformational processes the cultural meaning and main cultural functions of traditional holidays are preserved: reunion of families and, hence, the reunion of the whole nation.

scholarly journals Translation and Dissemination of Chu Ci in the West

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 11
Author(s):  
Jingwen Hu ◽  
Chuanmao Tian
Keyword(s):  
Chinese Culture ◽  
Chinese Literature ◽  
Present Situation ◽  
Paper Briefly ◽  
The West ◽  
Romantic Poetry ◽  
History Of ◽  
English Speaking

As a new style of verse mainly created by Qu Yuan, Chu Ci is the first anthology of romantic poetry in China. With deeper communication between China and other countries, Chu Ci, as an invaluable treasure in the history of Chinese literature, has been gradually translated, introduced and disseminated around the globe. This paper briefly examines the history and present situation of translation and dissemination of Chu Ci in English-speaking countries, aiming to strengthen the globalization of Chinese culture.

The Literati and the Dao

2019 ◽  
pp. 373-392
Author(s):  
Scott Lash
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Chinese Culture ◽  
Chinese Language ◽  
Holy Roman Empire ◽  
Roman Law ◽  
Nation State ◽  
The West ◽  
Imperial State

This chapter develops the argument that China is a civilizational state and follows a trajectory different from that of the Western nation-state. Weber is correct in selecting features of Chinese culture and social and political structure that stand in contrast to Western forms of rationalization: the role of magic, the particularism of guilds, the absence of the Western polis and Roman law, and the universalism demanded of Christianity in contrast to the religions of southeast Asia. Following Sheldon Pollock’s The Language of the Gods in the World of Men, the nature of language itself differentiates Latin in the West, Sanskrit in south and southeast Asia, and Chinese analogical language in China. Language, or langue-pensée, has a determining effect on stratification and configurations of power, especially in the development of the vernacularization of language as a precondition for the nation-state. China, in contrast to India and the West, resisted vernacularization. It is as if the West had kept to the Latin of the Holy Roman Empire. The nature of Chinese language therefore is intrinsic to the civilization and imperial state in China to this day.

Joint patronage in translating Chinese literature into English

Babel ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 66 (4-5) ◽  
pp. 765-779
Author(s):  
Liping Bai
Keyword(s):  
Chinese Text ◽  
Chinese Culture ◽  
Chinese Literature ◽  
Western World ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Book Series ◽  
University Of Oklahoma ◽  
Successful Launch ◽  
Normal University ◽  
The University

Abstract There has been a change in the form of patronage in translating Chinese culture/literature into English since the 1990s, that is, from sole patronage to joint patronage. This article discusses joint patronage in translating Chinese literature from Chinese into English through the case of the Chinese Literature Overseas Dissemination Project (中國文學海外傳播工程), which is under the joint patronage of Beijing Normal University, the Confucius Institute at University of Oklahoma, and the University of Oklahoma Press. The goals of this project have been well achieved with the successful launch of the journal Chinese Literature Today (CLT) and the publication of the CLT book series. The success of this project demonstrates that joint patronage is an ideal form of translating Chinese literature into English, and the Chinese Literature Overseas Dissemination Project has set a good example for the introduction of Chinese literature to the Western world.

Japanese Literati Painting and Calligraphy

Art History ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia J. Graham ◽  
Frank L. Chance
Keyword(s):  
Chinese Culture ◽  
Early 20Th Century ◽  
Chinese Poetry ◽  
The West ◽  
Literati Painting ◽  
School Professionals ◽  
Western Art ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Subject

Literati painting in Japan is generally referred to as Bunjinga (literati painting; Ch. Wen ren hua) or Nanga (Southern School painting; Ch. nan zong hua), both terms borrowed from China. Wen ren hua refers to the status of artists who belonged to the scholar-gentleman class. Nan zong hua was coined by the Chinese painter and theorist Dong Qichang (b. 1555–d. 1636), who used it to describe art by literati, ostensibly amateurs, whose paintings were indebted to their mastery of calligraphy, expressed their inner feelings, and sought to capture the spiritual essence of their subjects. He deemed Nan zong hua superior to that of another so-called “school” of painters he invented, the “northern school,” professionals whose work he declared to be superficial and decorative. In relation to Japanese literati painters, however, this distinction between the southern and northern schools is largely irrelevant. The diverse and very large group of artists defined as literati painters were variously amateurs and professionals who worked in styles inspired by a wide range of Chinese pictorial approaches, which the Japanese learned from imported woodblock-printed painting books, actual paintings, and Chinese and Korean artists and calligraphers who visited or emigrated to Japan, including professional painters, Confucian scholars, and Chan (Zen) Buddhist monks. Some Japanese literati painters were samurai, others commoners. Their commonality is a dedication to and deep knowledge of Sinophile literati culture—particularly Chinese poetry—and their use of Chinese literati painting subjects, especially ink landscapes and themes, such as bamboo, in response to the market demands of Japanese consumers fascinated by Chinese culture. Many also brushed polished and colorful bird-and-flower paintings modeled after the work of Chinese professional painters, and their art was also impacted by native styles then in vogue and by naturalistic rendering drawn from exposure to imported Western art. Some literati artists earned their living as Confucian scholars or writers and painted as an avocation; others worked as professional painters, presiding over independent ateliers with legions of disciples. Although the literati painting movement began in the Kyoto region, it was quickly embraced by artists throughout the country who often traveled and shared ideas. The first writings on the subject date to the early 20th century, but the heyday of scholarship occurred in the 1970s and 1980s, and resulted, in the West, in a large number of dissertations, with the majority dating from the late 1970s through early 1990s. Those that were subsequently revised as published monographs have been omitted from this bibliography.

Boundary-Crossing Words, Beliefs, and Experiences

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Song Gang
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Chinese Culture ◽  
Boundary Crossing ◽  
Chinese History ◽  
The West ◽  
Late Imperial ◽  
Cultural Encounter ◽  
Rise Of China ◽  
The Rise Of China ◽  
Modern Era

The rise of China as a leading power in today’s world has attracted increasing scholarly attention to the country’s encounter with the West (primarily referring to Europe and North America in this volume) in the modern era, i.e., from the late sixteenth to the early twentieth centuries. While more recent research began to shift away from the model of a tradition–modernity polarity in explaining late imperial Chinese history, new approaches have been proposed to explore a broader range of subjects tied with the richly documented exchanges between China and the West since the sixteenth century. However, there is still a lack of collaborative effort to examine how Western culture, long shaped by the dominant Christian religion, was conceptualized and imagined by late imperial Chinese people, and vice versa, how Confucian-based Chinese culture was understood and interpreted in modern Europe and North America. Indeed, the multilayered two-way flows of words, beliefs, and experiences in such a significant cross-cultural encounter open up intriguing possibilities for further investigation. This volume, which consists of seven studies, presents cutting-edge research on the formation and transformation of different types of knowledge, perceptions, and representations exchanged between China and the West through the modern period. It aims to shed new light and provide refreshing perspectives for future exploration of related subjects in this field....

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