CHINESE CULTURE IN THE NOVEL BY M. SHISHKIN “THE LETTER BOOK”

Abstract

The article is dedicated to interpretation of the role of Chinese culture in M. Shishkin’s latest novel “The Letter Book”. Through analyzing the artistic items (such as details of everyday life, rituals, religious customs, and the main categories of Chinese spiritual teachings) that function as representative signs of Chinese culture, the researcher concludes that the minor character – Kirill Glazenap – becomes the center of the cross-cultural references of the work in total. A student of linguistics, corresponding to the Confucian type of “the scholar”, a professional calligrapher, stands as a carrier of sacred value in the conceptual sphere of the Shishkin’s esthetics. The act of writing, as a process of “superimposing” alphabetic symbols on the perceived world, becomes the way of comprehending the true reality. The philosophical aspects of the work are studied in the light of their connection with the Eastern mythological part of the text, which allows to assume that “Chinese” layer serves to enrich and vary the dominant themes: the themes of writing, the relationship of all things and the theme of overcoming the death.