Plant Imagery in Intercultural Dialogue: The Works of A. P. Chekhov and the Philosophical Prose of Zhuang Zhou

The article investigates an intercultural dialogue through typologically similar motifs in the works of the Russian writer A. P. Chekhov and the Chinese philosopher Zhuang Zhou (4th–3rd centuries BCE). The research employs A. N. Veselovskiy’s theory of the self-generation of motifs, M. M. Bakhtin’s concept of outsideness, and principles of environmental ethics. The basis for the comparative analysis of plant motifs lies in the writers’ and thinkers’ profound interest in plants – both in life and in philosophical and literary reflection. Through plant imagery, their works reveal comparable ecological concepts: plants are not portrayed as passive, mechanical objects, but as autonomous subjects equal to humans. This approach radically rethinks the traditional ecological-ethical model of subject–object dualism and affirms the principles of non-anthropocentrism. Furthermore, plant imagery is used to examine the cultural differences between East and West in the philosophical interpre-tation of human existence. In Zhuang Zhou’s philosophy, the idea of unity between the human and the natural world, life and death, prevails, whereas in Chekhov’s works, characters are actively involved in worldly life and in moments of interaction with plants become acutely aware of the transience of their own existence. The dialog between authors across time and space deepens the understanding of the sociocultural phenomena of both countries.