The Perception of Russian Literature in China in the 21st Century

This article examines the history of the reception of Russian literature in China, which spans just over a century. Interest in Russian literature in the early 20th century was largely driven by political factors. People associated with the Communist Party of China or those who studied in the Soviet Union played a significant role in popularizing Russian literature. However, interest in specific writers and poets or individual works was often inspired by significant figures in Chinese society and was largely determined by their personal preferences, beliefs, and aesthetic values. The article notes the characteristic features of the spread of Russian literature in China. By the early 1950s, a stable group of Russian writers and poets, particularly popular in China, was formed. This group included Pushkin, Lermontov, Mayakovsky, Turgenev, Leo Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Gogol, Chekhov, Gorky, Sholokhov, and N. Ostrovsky's novel “How the Steel Was Tempered”. Despite all the political upheavals, the stability of this "pool" has remained unshakable and has not undergone significant changes. Since the beginning of the 21st century, the perception of Russian literature in China has been concentrated primarily within literary scholars. Although Russian literature has lost its leading position in the world translated literature in China and has ceased to be a role model in the 21st century, the recognition of works by Russian authors has contributed to the continued interest of publishers in reprinting them.