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Abstract:

Analyzing the reception of the events of the Russo-Japanese War (1904) in Russian literature represented by various ideological and artistic trends, we see that the war served as an impetus for self-reflection. Writers perceived the beginning and the inglorious end of the war as a series of fatal accidents that generated chaos. The image of the enemy did not occupy a significant place in the art works, the main attention was paid to internal Russian problems. The ideas of V.S. Solovyov regarding the confrontation between the “West” and the “East” drew particular attention, but the opposition underwent a value inversion: much more often, the initiative, strong-willed element was associated with Japan, which had embarked on the path of modernization. In the art works of the Symbolists, the fashion for Orientalism, which came from the West, was immersed in the context of current political events: aestheticism opposed militarism. The design of the magazine “Vesy” (No. 10, 1904), the genres of tanka and haiku in the art works of Russian Symbolists of the 1910s allow us to consider the dialogue of cultures, in which attention to the “foreign” opened up something new in “one’s own”. In conclusion, the idea is expressed that Prishvin’s story “Jen Sheng: The Root of Life” (1933) draws the desired synthesis of “Western” and “Eastern” principles in the process of real life-creation on Manchurian soil. The protagonist, who deserted from the Japanese war, combines in his work the achievements of Western science with the careful attitude to wildlife, characteristic of Eastern wisdom, outlining a favorable, non-apocalyptic scenario.

Keywords: Tanka and Haiku in Russian Symbolism, “On the Japanese War. Notes” by Veresaev, “The Tale of the Antichrist” by V.S. Solovyov, Dialogue of Cultures.