COMPOSITIONAL VERBAL STRATEGIES AND DEVICES OF CREATING THE IMAGE OF CHINA IN THE MEMOIRS OF B.S. KOLOKOLOV

Abstract

The article presents results of interdisciplinary research, devoted to compositional verbal strategies and devices of creating the memoir image in the memoirs of the last Russian imperial consul general’s son in Mukden (China) B.S. Kolokolov. The linguoimagological research is performed with the use of general scientific descriptive-analytical method and the method of compositional stylistic analysis of the text, which is traditional for linguistics, supported by the rhetoric teaching about the types of hypotyposis (descriptions). It is proved that in his memoirs B.S. Kolokolov creates the memoir image of east China of the beginning of XX century. This fact is testified by the narrative strategy of the text, based on the sequence of composites-recollections placed in accordance with space and time parameter of author’s travel and connected by the chain of toponymical names (horonyms and astionyms) and the lexis with movement semantics. It is found out that the descriptive strategy, based on the use of mainly non-trope (based on “general figurativeness”) hypotyposes of various types, which are included in the narrative outline, contributes to visualization of China’s image. The absence of detailed nature descriptions becomes significant: the author pays more attention to the description of the cities, provinces, intercity space, means of transport and other objects, because it is them that show the influence of foreign powers on the life in China, which he considers to be his home (“his nest”), and express one’s attitude to what is happening. The strategy of historic factual and linguistic commenting enables the author to depict the politics of China and present the image of Chinese people, among whom he doesn’t feel excluded.