FOX WEREWOLVES IN CHINESE LITERATURE AND CULTURE AND IN THE WORK OF V. PELEVIN

Abstract

The paper considers the motif of the “fox werewolf” borrowed from Chinese culture in the work of V. Pelevin. The main material of the research is the novel “The Sacred Book of the Werewolf,” with additional materials numerous references to Chinese literature and culture in other texts from the entire body of the writer’s works. The author concludes that the fox A Huli in the novel is not a bearer of bright, distinctive features of Chinese culture, but the first-person narrative gives a number of vivid pictures of Chinese life, culture and politics of the past. The sources of the image of the fox from Pelevin and its connection with Chinese mythology, philosophy and literature are shown, the main directions of the influence of Chinese literature and culture on Pelevin’s work are indicated.