The image of China in Yuri Galich’s travelogues “Golden Ships. Wanderings”

Abstract

This article studies the ways of constructing the image of China in the travelogue “The Golden Ship. Wanderings” (1927) by Yuri Galich. Structurally, the study consists of two parts. Proceeding from the theory of imagology and using the historical and literary methods, we conducted an overview analysis of the formation and evolution of the image of China in Russian literature and culture of the 15th–19th centuries. The study shows that under the influence of national ideology and public collective consciousness, the image of China in Russian travelogue literature was constantly developing and changing, different writers showing its qualities from different points of view in their works. The second part examines in detail Yuri Galich’s travelogue “The Golden Ship. Wanderings” and interprets the image system and cultural values of China rooted in Russian cultural tradition, exploring the spiritual essence of the image of China in Russian travelogue literature and the cultural identity embedded in it. In order to clarify Yuri Galich’s writing strategy, his work is compared with another travelogue of this time, B. Pilnyak’s “China Story”. Yuri Galich portrays a relatively objective and realistic image of China in an affable manner, while his disapproving attitude towards Chinese art reflects a strong sense of his own cultural confidence. In contrast, B. Pilnyak’s image of China is completely negative, reflecting the influence of European thought in portraying foreign countries.