TO THE DEPICTION OF CHINA IN VASILY ZHUKOVSKY’S WORKS

Abstract

The article covers the depiction of China in the Russian classical author Vasily Zhukovsky’s life and works for the first time. The relevance of this study is determined by the complexity of literary contexts in the poet’s works. In terms of methodology, it is a practical study of literary imagology, i. e. reflection of China in Zhukovsky’s texts and their specific functions. The research is aimed at three basic aspects of China in the author’s works: everyday life, intellectual activities and oeuvre. The condition to achieve this goal is interpreting Zhukovsky’s own works, translations and letters. The study resulted in the statement that the author’s awareness about Chinese culture surpassed a lot of his contemporaries’ knowledge in this area: his texts recorded the facts of both everyday Chinoiserie (porcelain and tea) and ontology and ethics. Besides, the image of China figures prominently in the poet’s pedagogical and publicistic works.