European intermediary translations of the Shijing in nineteenth-century Russia and images of China in Russian culture

Abstract

The article examines Russian translations of the Shijing (The Book of Poetry) in the second half of the nineteenth century produced mainly through European intermediary sources. The study analyzes translations, anthologies, and works on world literary history, in which texts from the Shijing functioned in different literary and cultural contexts. The aim of the article is to identify the role of European intermediary translations in shaping the perception of Chinese poetry and the ideas about China in nineteenth-century Russian culture. Particular attention is paid to paratexts, publishing strategies, and publication contexts. The study demonstrates that Russian translations of the Shijing did not form a single model of Chinese poetry perception. Depending on the literary and publishing context, the same text could be interpreted as philosophical wisdom, political lyric poetry, Oriental stylization, ethnographic material, or a monument of world literature. The article shows that the perception of the Shijing in Russia was determined largely not by the Chinese original itself, but by European literary models and intermediary sources. The article concludes that without studying paratexts and publication contexts, the history of Russian translations of the Shijing remains incomplete. Thus, the translation history of the Shijing is examined as a material for studying the image of China in nineteenth-century Russian culture.