scholarly journals A brief overview of the reception of “The Tale of Igor's Campaign”

Litera ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 33-46
Author(s):  
Ziwei Li
Keyword(s):  
Mainland China ◽  
Russian Literature ◽  
May Fourth Movement ◽  
General Process ◽  
Old Russian ◽  
Fourth Movement ◽  
Russian Literary ◽  
Scientific Task ◽  
Complete Translation ◽  
Historical Methods

The subject of this research is the process of reception of “The Tale of Igor's Campaign” in mainland China. The analysis of China’s historical conditions and comparison of the statistics at different periods indicate changes in the process of reception of Russian literature as a whole, and the Old Russian literary landmark in particular in the course of historical development of Celestial Empire. The novelty of this research is defines by insufficient coverage of the process of reception of “The Tale of Igor's Campaign” in China as a special cultural phenomenon, inseparable from the overall process of cultural and literary development of the country. Reception of the Russian literature is viewed in the socio-historical system, in which it organically interacts with the national culture and literature. The article employs descriptive, conceptual, and comparative-historical methods for solving the scientific task; determines the key stages in the general process of reception of “The Tale of Igor's Campaign” in China; and reveals the peculiarities of each stage with description of the major achievements. The author concludes that for almost two centuries, the Old Russian literary landmark has undergone a propaedeutic reception in China, which gradually intensified after the May Fourth Movement. It experienced stagnation after the first complete translation of the “Tale” into Chinese language, and a breakthrough in the image of this work in modern Chinese science, which currently interprets “The Tale of Igor's Campaign” as a literary-historical text.

scholarly journals The image of light: poetics of Old Russian literature in Russian literary texts of the post-revolutionary decades (M. Tsvetaeva, O. Mandelstam, A. Akhmatova, B. Pasternak)

2021 ◽  
Vol 62 ◽  
pp. 174-183
Author(s):  
Tatiana I. Radomskaya
Keyword(s):  
Russian Literature ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Special Role ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Human Soul ◽  
Material Life ◽  
Old Russian ◽  
Red Color ◽  
Russian Literary ◽  
In The Beginning

The topic of the present paper is the process of transformation of old Russian poetics in Russian literature in the beginning of the 20th c. and particularly the concept of light. The concept of light is very specific in Old Russian literature and can be perceived as phenomenological image and associated with sacral world. The concept of light may be transformed and manifested in different images such as protective veil or as a boundary between light and dark (which is explored through the example of old Russian literature). The literature of the early 20 c. proves that the concept of light is similar to one of the Old Russian literature and plays special role in works by M. Tsvetaeva, B. Pasternak, O. Mandelshtam, A. Akhmatova. It is due to transcendental vector of their works. In Tsvetaeva`s works light is shown through opposition “colour – light” that reveals sacral nature of it and white color. The works by Mandelshtam and Akhmatova demonstrate that light also can be white (similar to Tsvetaeva) but also connected with red color as it is associated with death of millions. In the Christian tradition it symbolizes martyrdom. The novel “Doktor Zhivago” by B. Pasternak illustrates that the source of light is inside material life. Thus, the concept of light in the works of postrevolutionary years reveals 2 types of consciousness (according to S. Frank) — immanent presence of common in nature and in human soul and strong feeling of transcendency.

scholarly journals Hermeneutics of Old Russian Literature: Issue 20

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olga A. Tufanova ◽  
Marianna V. Kaplun
Keyword(s):  
Russian Literature ◽  
Research Problem ◽  
Original Research ◽  
Traditional Practice ◽  
University Professors ◽  
Old Russian ◽  
Russian Literary ◽  
History Of ◽  
Fundamental Research ◽  
Manuscript Collections

The book is a comprehensive fundamental research on the history of Russian literature of the 11th–17th centuries, reflecting various domestic and foreign schools and trends. The materials are structured into sections depending on the subject, topics and methods of analysis and show both the novelty and the traditional nature of the research problem. The focus is on the scientific problems of codicology, source study, textology, macro- and micropoetics of both manuscript collections and individual monuments of the literature of Old Russia, editions of newly found redactions and previously unknown medieval texts. Analytical and survey research focuses on the problems of interpretation of Old Russian written monuments, the artistic specifics of various genre forms, syncretic phenomena of Old Russian literary and artistic creativity. A number of works have shown a deep interest in the issues of the reception of plots of Old Russian literature in the literature of the 20th–21th centuries, allusions to the medieval texts. The newest original research devoted to the peculiarities of Old Russian writing and manuscript ruling clarifies the issues of the existence of Old Russian books and makes significant adjustments to the established traditional practice of publishing Old Russian monuments. In general, research presented in the book expands and deepens the understanding of the history of the development of Russian medieval literature. The book is addressed primarily to trained readers — medieval scholars, university professors, graduate students and philology students, historians, cultural experts, art historians.

"THE TALE OF THE POSSESSED WOMAN SOLOMONIA". MYTHOLOGICAL CONTEXTS AND PARALLELS

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 94-127
Author(s):  
Olga B. Khristoforova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Fairy Tales ◽  
Russian Literature ◽  
Structure And Function ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Content Structure ◽  
Old Russian ◽  
The North ◽  
Thematic Unity ◽  
Russian Literary ◽  
And Function

The article discusses a masterpiece of Old Russian literature of the 17th century, “The Tale of the Possessed Woman Solomonia”, in the context of Russian and Finno-Ugric mythology. The plot of the Tale is compared to two close plot sets: about people given away to spirits of nature (lost / cursed) or taken away by said spirits (the plot of the North Russian and Finno-Ugric mythological narratives), and about the supernatural or enchanted wife (husband) (the plot is common in Russian fairy tales and in non-fairytale prose of the Finno-Ugric peoples). Consideration of the Tale in a wider mythological context allows to talk not only about the folklore origins of the Old Russian literary masterpiece or thematic unity of the literary and oral texts, but also about the work of cross-genre transmission for mythological motifs, about the logic and ideology of the plot composition in texts of different genres. In particular, it is assumed that, from the point of view of comparative mythology, the motif of sexual persecution of Solomonia by demons can be considered not a result of the influence of Western European demonology with its idea of the succubi and incubi, but an inverse of the mythological model of exogamous marriage regarding of its content, structure and function. The article offers an extension of the context in which one can think about the plot of the Old Russian tale and about weaving yet another thread into the canvas of interpretations.

New understanding and old myths. On I. Esaulov’s Russian Classics: New Understanding [Russkaya klassika: novoe ponimanie]

2020 ◽  
pp. 178-191
Author(s):  
E. V. Abdullaev
Keyword(s):  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Russian Literature ◽  
Eastern Orthodox ◽  
Literary Canon ◽  
Eastern Orthodoxy ◽  
Russian Culture ◽  
Historical Method ◽  
Russian Literary ◽  
Methodological Principles

The article examines methodological principles of studying the Russian literary canon in the cultural context of Eastern Orthodoxy, as demonstrated in I. Esaulov’s book. While acknowledging the importance of the book’s method, the article reviews and criticizes the concepts used by the scholar (the Eastern archetype, the Christmas archetype, the categories of Law and Grace, etc.). In particular, the author challenges the statement that a writer populates his works with archetypes prevailing in his culture (so Eastern Orthodox ones in the case of Russian culture), often against his own religious principles. Also subjected to critical analysis is the thesis about the Easter archetype being more specific to Russian literature, with the Christmas archetype being more typical of Western literature. On the whole, the paper argues that the transhistorical approach declared by the scholar as opposed to the rigorously historical method (M. Gasparov and others) may often lead to strained hypotheses and mythologizing; all in all, it may result in an ahistorical perception of both Eastern Orthodoxy and the literary canon.

The Power of Position: Beijing University, Intellectuals and Chinese Political Culture 1898–1929. By Timothy B. Weston. [Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press, 2004. xiv+325 pp. $60.00; £39.95. ISBN 0-520-23767-6.]

2004 ◽  
Vol 179 ◽  
pp. 841-843
Author(s):  
Benjamin A. Elman
Keyword(s):  
Los Angeles ◽  
Intellectual Life ◽  
May Fourth Movement ◽  
New Culture Movement ◽  
Fourth Movement ◽  
May Fourth ◽  
Chinese Intellectuals ◽  
The University ◽  
Chinese Political Culture ◽  
The May Fourth Movement

Timothy Weston's study of Beijing University (hereafter, “Beida”) spotlights how modern Chinese intellectuals positioned themselves politically and socially in the early 20th century. Weston relies on the Beida archives, dailies, journals, and many other sources, to make four contributions. First, Beida's early history shows how literati humanists repositioned themselves during a period of great uncertainty. New style intellectuals had influence because they mastered Western and classical learning. Secondly, Beida's complex history did not break sharply with the past. Earlier accounts of the May Fourth movement obscure the efforts of intellectuals since 1898 to redefine their role. Weston suggests that May Fourth amplified a continuing progression of new and old ways of doing things. Thirdly, political tensions emerged when the university increasingly radicalized after 1911. No more than 20 per cent of Beida students were involved in the New Culture movement. A strong conservative undertow continually challenged radical agendas. Often we hear only the voices of the latter. Finally, Weston assesses Beida's history in light of how the May Fourth movement played out in different locations. In the 1920s, Shanghai replaced Beijing as the leading venue for urban China's cultural and intellectual leaders. Beijing increasingly lost status under warlordism, and the Nationalist shift of the capital to Nanjing refocused Chinese intellectual life on the Chang (Yangtze) delta.

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