Reception of A. Varlamov's Creativity in Chinese Literary Studies and Criticism

Nyu Yuetsyu Postgraduate student, Department of Russian Language and Literature, Far Eastern Federal University 690922, Russia, Vladivostok, Ajax str., 101007 nyu.yu@dvfu.ru Other publications by this author

Alexey Varlamov is a modern Russian writer who enjoys high prestige in the literary world of China. The purpose of the article is to analyze the reception of A. Varlamov's work in Chinese literary criticism. The relevance of the study is due to the need to study the originality of the Chinese reception of the work of a modern Russian author popular in China.

Modern research in the field of reception can be divided into several categories: consideration of the reception of a writer's creativity in the work of another ^[1],[2]; reader's reception ^[3], translation reception ^[4],[5], critical reception ^[6],[7]. This study is devoted to the latter type of receptive practice. Each work of art can be perceived as a part of world literature: "This idea is all the more important in the period of globalization, the development of world communication media. At the same time, a work of foreign literature, once in a fresh context and becoming a part of it, takes part in the development of perceiving literature, on a par with the works written inside it" ^[8]. When analyzing a literary text, it can be very interesting to consider the reception of a work and other national culture, while the key figure of reception is, of course, the reader: "The reader of any artistic work ideally becomes a participant in creative, artistic communication, he takes into account the integrity of the language of the work and makes a transition in imagination from the language of the work of art to images" ^{[9, p. 31]}. But one should not exclude professional literary criticism, which contributes to the introduction of a foreign object into culture. In the case of A.N. Varlamov, Chinese literary criticism focused on such aspects of his work as religious themes and artistic method.

The study of religious themes in the works of A. Varlamov

The first aspect in relation to the study of religious themes in A. Varlamov's prose should be noted the consideration of various manifestations of eschatology. Liu Tao conducted an in-depth analysis of several important works by Varlamov ("The Loch", "The Sunken Ark" and "The Dome") and dwelt in more detail on the "feeling" of the end of the world in the protagonist of the novel "The Loch" Dzhezkin. Dzhezkin wandered all his life without having a permanent place of residence and a permanent job, and was a typical marginal. From an everyday point of view, he seems to others to be a "sucker", stupid, unsuitable for life, not striving for material accumulation, but in fact has extraordinary wisdom. Dzhezkin's premonition of the end of the world was much closer to the "heretical" idea. The consciousness of the end of the world, expressed in the novel "Sucker", is exclusively the psychological state of the hero, caused by the collapse of the Old World, and not the battle of good and evil and the final judgment in the Christian theological sense ^[10].

Liu Tao also noted that the title of the novels "The Sunken Ark" and "The Dome" used the principle of allusion to reveal the eschatological themes underlying the novel, which had a great influence on the subsequent study of the eschatological theme among literary critics ^[10]. The title of the novel is already a symbol in itself. The title of the novel "The Sunken Ark" contains three meanings: firstly, today's humanity, like people in the era of Noah, is facing a devastating catastrophe - the end of the world (we are talking about the destruction of the USSR and the construction of a new social and economic system); secondly, the novel shows that there are forces that, like Noah's Ark, they can save humanity; thirdly, this author demonstrates that, perhaps, he cannot offer the idea of salvation, ideal for everyone, the option of turning to the old faith is not suitable for new social conditions, therefore, an unsuccessful salvation option is demonstrated, because the "ark" "sank". Like "The Sunken Ark", the title of the novel "Dome" is also a symbol of the eschatological plan. The "Ark" in the "Sunken Ark" is a society of the Old Believers sect of the village of Bukhara. In the "Dome", the hometown of "Ya" Chagodai is also a place of compact residence of the Old Believer sect ^[10].

Zhao Jianchang used the symbol "ark" as a starting point to explain the meaning of the events taking place in the novel, "Sunken Ark" means the destruction and rebirth of the old world. The researcher notes that the eschatological motifs in the novel are actually positive eschatology, which combines both the expectation of an eternal heavenly kingdom and attention to the modern real world, with all the contradictions of public life in Russia after the destruction of the Soviet utopia. In contrast to Bukhara, St. Petersburg and the village of Forty-second are shown, where moods of despair, pain, decline and expectation of death reign. Zhao Jianchang's conclusion is interesting that the "eternal" Bukhara was also totalitarian and was under the rule of Patriarch Vassian. According to the critic, the author focuses on rebirth after destruction, and the novel shows the possibility of new people being able to revive the lost faith.: These are Masha and Ilya Petrovich, as well as twelve children born from him in the sect of the Eunuchs. The critic believes that this novel is dedicated to the theme of the end of the world, but at the same time notes that this is a positive eschatology, because the characters of the novel do not passively wait for the end, which indicates a new look at Varlamov's eschatology of this period ^[12].

Li Wenjing notes that the author's reflections on the level of morality and religiosity in Russian society are focused on describing life in two different sects. The researcher believes that Varlamov fully demonstrates the lack of faith under a religious mask and the emptiness in people's hearts, reveals the feelings of the end of the whole society and depicts it with realistic methods ^[12].

The second aspect of literary critics' research of religious themes in the works of A. Varlamov is an appeal to the idea of spiritual salvation and human rebirth, reflected in the writer's prose. Zhang Jianhua, drawing attention to the novel "Birth", considered the topic of alienation between people in modern society, including between husband and wife. The critic believes that the writer encourages people to pay attention to spirituality in the material world and hopes for the possibility of its revival in a new life. The article also mentions that in the novel "The Sunken Ark", the appeal to sects is necessary for the Russian people to find spiritual salvation. But those extreme measures proposed by imaginary religions (in the novel, for example, self-immolation among Old Believers) do not improve the life situation, do not lead to spiritual freedom, but on the contrary, distort natural, sincere, harmonious relations between people. Varlamov, according to the researcher, argues that democracy and freedom are the true salvation ^[13].

Zhang Jing, taking as the basis of the study the storyline of Masha, the heroine of The Sunken Ark, and the path that Ilya Petrovich followed her, describes the helplessness, confusion of a person and his attitude to religion when traditions come into conflict with new trends, good and evil, piety and betrayal, and Ilya Petrovich speaks as a mission that is able to save the Russian people from death in fire or flood ^[14].

Wang Cancan focused on the religious complex reflected in The Sunken Ark. From Van Cancan's point of view, religious motifs, the chronotope of the novel and the image of nature are designed to demonstrate a person's desire for truth, kindness and beauty. There may be many ways of redemption, but the true effectiveness should not be the power given by God, but one's own self-awareness, which may well lead to salvation. A person should improve under the guidance of scientific truth, allowing faith, knowledge and morality to develop harmoniously ^[15].

The third aspect, which can be distinguished in terms of the consideration of religious topics by Chinese critics, is devoted to "sectarianism". Russian Russian Novel in the Context of Religious Revival In his doctoral dissertation, Qi Xin presented three types of religious beliefs of Russian writers in the context of the post-Soviet era: liberals, conservatives and radicals. The author refers Varlamov to liberals and concretizes his position when analyzing the writer's views reflected in the novels: the typical "image of Foolishness" in "Sucker" and "sectarianism" in "The Sunken Ark". Varlamov argues that sectarianism is a viral idea of the Russian people, poisoning the collective consciousness and historical memory. The dissertation also presents the characteristics and origins of apostates and a critique of their beliefs. Qi Xin believed that Varlamov in the novel examines the problem of sectarianism in the history of Russia. The novel pays great attention to the history of sectarianism, it even tells about the activities of sectarian organizations like the "Church of the Last Testament". According to Qi Xin, Varlamov, praising the piety of Bukhara, does not hesitate to let it sink. According to him, only the lonely Masha, revered by Bukhara as a saint, really survived ^[16].

Literary critics believe that in Varlamov's novels, the religious context is very important for understanding the idea. Moreover, a multifaceted analysis of religious themes (eschatology, human rebirth, the role of sects in Russia in the 1990s) allows us to better understand the author's ideological intent and determine the meaning of symbols and images in novels.

Studying the creative method of A. Varlamov

A number of works by Chinese researchers of A. Varlamov's work can be combined due to their attention to the method of postrealism, which is reflected in the author's work. In his first interview with A. Varlamov, Zhang Jianhua noted that in the context of social and literary tension in Russia, the desire for post-realism shown by Varlamov in The Sunken Ark is both traditional and progressive ^[13]. Zhao Xuehua believes that the story of the hero Ilya Petrovich in the novel "The Sunken Ark" corresponds to the features of post-realistic works, and then points out that "The Sunken Ark" is a work of post-realistic literature ^[17]. Zhou Qichao considers Varlamov to be one of the writers of post-realism, combining Varlamov's novels "Birth", "Sunken Ark", "Dome" as works of "post-realism with symbolistic shades" ^[18].

Ji Jing believes that The Sunken Ark is a typical post-realistic literary work, and she analyzes the literary characteristics of post-realism, mainly based on three aspects: marginal characters in the novel, a combination of mysticism and realism, and artistic time-space. From Ji Jing's point of view, by creating an image of intellectuals such as Director Ilya Petrovich and Elder Vassian, Varlamov reveals their way of thinking, showing their concern about the fate of the country and the search for a better way for its further historical development. The novel mentions mystical events and mystical phenomena in real life, post-realistic works are the author's reflections on the manifestation of the inexpressible in reality, the study of the mysterious purpose of human life and existence, as well as the support of a supporting force in a pessimistic reality ^[19].

The studies of Chinese literary critics devoted to mythological prototypes are interesting. Zhao Tingting noted that Varlamov included many elements of folklore in his work. Thus, the image of the "Other Kingdom" is an important spatial chronotope in Varlamov's novel "The Sunken Ark", implying the main character's desire for peace and the search for faith. One kingdom is represented by St. Petersburg, the other kingdom is the village of Bukhara. Russian russians built the village of Bukhara, located in a virgin forest, Varlamov demonstrates the walking of the Russian people on Russian soil in search of the "heavenly kingdom", embodies the desire for a different better world and the ultimate ideal ^[20].

Thirdly, the study of the image of the "kingdom of ants". In her work "On the image of the ant Kingdom in the works of Dostoevsky, Platonov and Varlamov", Zhao Tingting focused on the analysis of the image of the protagonist of the novel "Dome" Nikita, who evaluates his hometown of Chagodai as "the ant kingdom", as well as on the analysis of the world order of the village of Bukhara in the novel "The Sunken Ark". The structure of the "ant kingdom" was originally conceived as an ideal society, but two other understandings have emerged: as a utopian "earthly paradise" and as a dystopian totalitarian society, whose members are deprived of individuality and freedom. The image and structure of the "ant kingdom" served as a justification for the thesis that Bukhara and St. Petersburg are considered totalitarian societies ^[21].

Varlamov, who inherited the wonderful traditions of Russian masters of realism such as Tolstoy and Chekhov, retained a realistic creative style in which literature is able to show the versatility of reality.

Chinese literary critics examined Varlamov's prose from different angles, they paid attention to the content and method of writing works. As a result of the analysis of the receptive practice of A. Varlamov's works in Chinese literary studies, it can be noted that the leading theme in Varlamov's work is religious, associated with eschotalogical motives, appeal to the idea of spiritual salvation and human rebirth, sectarianism. Chinese literary critics attribute Varlamov's work to postrealism, the method of which plays an important role in considering the author's work. All these points of view are very useful for enriching theoretical research and for understanding the meaning of works.