“New positioning” of Mayakovsky by Yue Fenglin in China

Abstract

The paper is devoted to the work of the famous Chinese translator and researcher of Russian literature Yue Fenglin. His monographs, still unknown to the Russian-speaking reader, “Mayakovsky – the literary master of the 20th century” (2004) and “The study of the art of Mayakovsky’s poetry” (2017), are considered in the context of the development of Chinese literary studies. These works systematize and summarize not only the entire work of Mayakovsky translated into Chinese to date but also the history of the Chinese reception of the poet from 1921 to the present. Chinese literary scholars regard Yue Fenglin as an iconic figure in the study of Mayakovsky. He brought a new understanding of Mayakovsky to the perception of Chinese readers. He was the first to propose the concept of Mayakovsky as a “poet of a new futuristic type,” one who put futuristic aesthetics in a new direction to reflect the realities of the revolutionary time and socialist construction. The theme of Mayakovsky’s influence on Chinese poetry is presented ambiguously, with a critical pathos towards literal imitation. Chinese philologists state that the Kubofuturism of Mayakovsky corresponded to the national conditions of China and the political needs of Chinese society. Attention is drawn to the impact of Yue Fenlin’s work on the changing direction of Chinese studies of the poet. Yue Fenglin should be recognized for his focus on futurist aesthetics, marking a turning point for Chinese researchers: from studying the ideological component of creativity to examining his poetics.