Images of the Chinese in Russian literature of the Far East at the beginning of the twentieth century as a reflection of cultural interactions

Meng Fanhong

The article analyzes the reflection of the presence of Chinese in the Far East in Russian literature of the early twentieth century from the point of view of cultural interactions between residents of Russia and Chinese immigrants. It is noted that in order to understand the literature of this period, it is necessary to study the history of Chinese immigration. The Chinese first appeared in the Russian Far East in the middle of the 19th century. Since then, the problem of Chinese immigration in the Far East has occupied the consciousness of Russians and appears in the writings of a number of famous travelers, ethnographers, public figures, as well as in works of fiction. The image of the Chinese, embodied in the Russian literature of this period, reflects the peculiarities of the integration of the Chinese who lived in the Russian Far East into the local society. In literature, in particular, in the verses of V. Mart, the image of the Chinese is created as an eternal worker, performing low-skilled work, often a smoker of opium. Such images of the Chinese recreate the realities: both the fears of local residents before the "invasion" of the Chinese population, and the unwillingness of the Chinese themselves to assimilate, to be included in Russian life and culture.

Keywords:Far East, Russia, China, emigration, immigration, the image of the Chinese, literature, culture.