Oriental Institute Journal, 2019, №42 (2)
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HISTORY
UDC 94(100)"1914/19" doi: dx.doi.org/10.24866/2542-1611/2019-2/6-29
The article deals with the formation of ideas about the causes, nature and goals of World War I in the periodical press of the Russian Far East during 1914–1916. Such newspapers as «Dal’niy Vostok», «Priamurskie vedomosti», «Priamur’e», «Dalyokaya okraina», «Ussuriyskiy kray», «Tekushchiy den’», «Blagoveshchenskoe utro» and others are used as sources. The study shows that, although in general the provincial Russian society took a patriotic stance, the attitude to the war was different in its different segments and depended on the level of education and social status. Representatives of the bourgeoisie and intellectuals accepted the war completely and expected great benefits from it for Russia. In the press of the type under study («Dal’niy Vostok», «Dalekaya okraina»), the blame for unleashing war was laid on Germany, the image of a German enemy was created, and the people were called upon to sacrifice everything for the sake of victory. Middle and lower strata of the population were determined not so unequivocally. The war for them was more likely a source of disaster. Because of this, the “yellow” (mass) press intended for them («Tekushchiy den’», «Blagoveshchenskoe utro») turned out to be less contaminated with chauvinism and Germanophobia than reputable quality publications.
Key words: World War I, Russian Empire, provinces, Far East, intelligentsia, media, enemy image
LITERARY STUDIES
UDC 82.091 doi: dx.doi.org/10.24866/2542-1611/2019-2/30-38
Elena A. PERVUSHINA On the Issue of the Term "Translated Literature"
The article deals with the necessity to recognize the term «translated literature» as the name of a peculiar kind of artistic phenomenon in literature. Such a name should not be considered as the synonym to the term “literary translation”. The definition of translated literature adopted in linguistics as a set of texts translated from another language does not reflect the literary view of this phenomenon. It has a special and independent place in the ratio of “original” and “receiving” literatures. The artistic nature of «translated literature», striving to continuously update and renew translation solutions is really unique. Translated literature has a crucial ontological function of the national literature integration in the global literary context.
Key words: comparative literary study, world literature, literary translation, translated literature
CULTURE STUDIES
UDC 392.1(941.16) doi: dx.doi.org/10.24866/2542-1611/2019-2/39-47
The article analyzes the role and place of female characters in the traditional birthing ritual of the indigenous peoples of the Lower Amur (Udege, Nanai, Ulchi, Nivkh, Oroch, Negidal, Evenki) using a comparative historical method. The presented materials allow us to draw the following conclusions: firstly, due to a single community of residence and a similar economic and cultural type, the rites of obstetric care among the peoples of the region have certain identical features; secondly, almost every step of the woman in labor, as well as her immediate relatives (especially her husband), was shrouded in various prohibitions, many of which, as it must be admitted, had a rational basis. Thirdly, in the cycle of the birthing rites, magical actions clearly prevailed. Fourthly, the numerous births in difficult conditions, the lack of proper care for the woman and the newborn child led to early wear of the woman’s body and high infant mortality. Despite this, each family sought to have as many children as possible, without which they could not see the meaning of their existence.
Key words: maternity ritual, female characters, indigenous ethnic groups, rational and irrational prohibitions, magical rites
POLICY
UDC 327 doi: dx.doi.org/10.24866/2542-1611/2019-2/48-57
Ivan N. ZOLOTUKHIN Russia in Changing Metaregional Structure of Eurasia
Foreign policy activities aimed at reducing the complexities of the international environment, in an effort to make its manifestations more manageable, determines the formation and development of regional entities including peculiar geopolitical, economic, and civilizational features. The article discusses the particularities of functioning of the regional processes in the Asia-Pacific, Indo-Pacific, and Greater Eurasia as a project region. Russia’s interests, positions and initiatives in the three regional spaces, as well as its integration into the existing regional structures and posture in the existing coordinate system of the regional policy are emphasized.
Key words: Asia-Pacific region, Indo-Pacific region, Greater Eurasia, regionalism, geopolitics, Russia, integration
UDC 327 doi: dx.doi.org/10.24866/2542-1611/2019-2/58-66
This article provides an overview of Russian expert commentary found in Russia’s media during the run-up to the Trump-Kim summit in Hanoi in February 2019 and in its aftermath. The article also covers Kim’s first meeting with Vladimir Putin that took place in Vladivostok in late April. With regard to the Korean Peninsula’s nuclear problem, Russia’s commentariat traditionally splits into three groups. The first includes specialists who are more or less neutral toward North Korea. The second one is formed by experts who sympathize more with Pyongyang and tend to blame Washington and American allies for anything that goes wrong on the Korean Peninsula. The third school, now almost extinct in Russia, represents liberal and pro-Western pundits who loath the North Korean regime and view it as a major threat to international, and Russia’s, security. The general mood remained cautiously optimistic even after Hanoi’s apparent failure, with the prevailing majority of Russia’s Korea watchers believing diplomacy between Pyongyang and Washington would continue and might eventually succeed. The Russian commentary on the Vladivostok summit was generally positive, hailing the symbolism of Moscow’s return to the major league of the Korean Peninsula geopolitics.
Key words: Korean Peninsula, denuclearization, security in Northeast Asia, DPRK, the United States, China, Russia
SOCIETY
UDC 327 doi: dx.doi.org/10.24866/2542-1611/2019-2/67-79
Yaroslav N. SHEVCHENKO The Role of Educational Exchanges in Russian Public Diplomacy
In this article, the author examines the role of educational exchanges in Russian public diplomacy, which, according to his view, may become an effective means to gain superiority in soft power. An assessment of Russia’s educational brand has been undertaken. Based on a сase study of Far Eastern Federal University’s experience of hosting foreign students an attempt is made to evaluate whether educational exchanges are efficient in casting Russia in favorable light. The overall argument is that international educational exchanges in Russia are implemented mostly for gaining commercial and image benefit than reaping political dividends. The first section of the paper aims to develop a conceptual framework of the subject matter and gives a brief overview of Russia’s public diplomacy. The second section analyses the role of international educational exchanges in public diplomacy and discusses Russia’s record of using them in this context. Finally, the last section consists of a case study of Far Eastern Federal University as a public diplomacy actor.
Key words: public diplomacy, soft power, Russian Foreign Policy, educational exchanges, Far Eastern Federal University
ROUNDTABLE
UDC 321.7(510) doi: dx.doi.org/10.24866/2542-1611/2019-2/80-96
As an industrialized region of Mao’s times, since the beginning of liberal economic reforms, the Northeast has been in the group of lagging territories. The peculiarity of the modern economy of the region is a powerful pool of state-owned enterprises of heavy industry. Reforms in the regional economy were announced at the beginning of the 90s, but in fact, they began only from the 2000s. However, the relatively inefficient (and even unprofitable) large state-owned enterprises of heavy industry still dominate the regional economy. The roundtable participants cited several reasons for the lag in the economic development of the Northeast. First, the remoteness of enterprises in the region from the “touch points” of China with world markets, from transport channels. At the same time, cooperation with Russia does not provide the Northeast with sufficient incentives for development. Second, the legacy of the social policy of the PRC, forcing large groups of workers to remain in enterprises. Third, the system of intraregional and interregional redistribution of budgets, compensating for the economic inefficiency of enterprises in the region.
ACADEMIC REPORTS
UDC 947.084.31(571.63) doi: dx.doi.org/10.24866/2542-1611/2019-2/97-104
Dmitriy E. RYKUNOV On the History of Shooting a Film about Koreans in Vladivostok in 1927
The article tells about the history of the creation of the first feature film in the Far East. Its main feature was that the film’s characters were Koreans – the second largest diaspora in Vladivostok. Valerian Inkinzhinov, then an unknown actor, who became famous a year later in Vsevolod Pudovkin’s film “Descendant of Genghis Khan”, shot the film. After his departure abroad in 1930, his name was removed from the history of national cinema for many years. The shooting took place in the suburbs of Vladivostok, at Okeanskaya station, next to a plywood factory. The plant supplied the film crew with the necessary building material for making the scenery of a Korean village, as well as providing electricity. There was not a single professional actor in the film. The main actors and extras were selected from among the Korean population of Vladivostok. In the short courses they were acquainted with the basics of acting. The deadline for the film was postponed due to the typhoon that hit the city. A typhoon destroyed a decorative Korean village and complicated the filming process. However, the film was never released, but for quite different reasons.
Key words: Valery Inkinzhinov, the first feature film in the Far East, the Korean diaspora in Primorye
ARCHIVE
doi: dx.doi.org/10.24866/2542-1611/2019-2/105-111
The readers of Journal of the Oriental Institute (Oriental Institute Journal, No. 1 (29) 2016) have already become acquainted with certain chapters from the memoirs of Peter Unterberger, the son of the military governor of the Primorskaya Oblast’ Pavel Fyodorovich Unterberger. No less fascinating, Peter Pavlovich Unterberger tells about the relics of his family, the personal glove of Nicholas II, which he received as a gift from His Imperial Majesty. In the summer of 2016, I was lucky to meet with all the direct descendants of Peter Unterberger, currently living in Austria and Germany. With trepidation, they showed me the rewards and personal belongings of the family, which are stored and passed down from generation to generation. So I was able to see and photograph the most valuable family relic, the glove of His Imperial Majesty, Nicholas II. You can learn about how this glove ended up in the family by reading the translation of the memoirs of Peter Unterberger about this episode.
OIJ CLUB
doi: dx.doi.org/10.24866/2542-1611/2019-2/112-122
Ivan Yu. ZUENKO Three Factors of Chinese Basketball’s Success
The author continues his series of articles about development of mass and professional sport in China. In the third article the author puts the focus into the topic of Chinese basketball that is labelled “Sport No. 1” in modern PRC even despite current leaders’ intentions to promote football. According to the author’s conclusions, there are three basic factors of such success. First, an easy access to the basketball infrastructure that makes the sport popular amongst players and TV-watchers. Second, the influence of cooperation with one of the most successful professional leagues in the world, NBA, especially after transfer of Chinese star Yao Ming into the spotlights of American professional sport in 2001. Third, the factor of multiethnicity of PRC that brings a lot of players of non-Han origin (first of all, Uyghurs and Mongols) to professional basketball and helps Chinese teams to overcome certain anthropometrical constrains typical for teams from East Asia.
Key words: China, basketball, professional sport, soft power, Xinjiang
doi: dx.doi.org/10.24866/2542-1611/2019-2/123-129
Roman N. PAZHENSKIY A Year at the University on the Island of Taiwan
A sinologist student at the Oriental Institute – School of Regional and International Studies, FEFU, Roman Pazhenskiy spent almost a year in Taiwan, improving his Chinese skills at Tamkang University. Roman is a disabled person, group 1, moving in a wheelchair. Roman’s trip to Taiwan was made possible thanks to the financial and other support provided by FEFU and caring people. On his return to Vladivostok, Roman told about his impressions of his stay on the Chinese island.