«The Shriveled Orient Made All Talk About Itself…»: China and Japan in Columns of the Newspaper «Vostochnoye Obozreniye» in the Last Quarter of 21th Century

Abstract

The article examines the main plotlines and images of Japan and China in the end of 21th century which were modelled and translated to the reading public by one of the most accredited Siberia’s newspaper «Vostochnoye Obozreniye»(«Oriental Review»). The choice of the newspaper for the analysis is determined by three factors: its oriental trend, growing print run and popularity, participation of famous scientists, travelers, public figures in creating the content. In the newspaper editorial board, for the Russian periphery at the Asian border «in the interests of this very periphery it never hampers to learn the neighboring countries,» thus «increasing the horizons», “to renounce the hackneyed prejudices and the fear to be faulted for Asian barbarism». Materials about China and Japan were present almost in each issue, which testifies the newspaper’s permanent interest in the oriental neighbors of the Russian empire. With general eurocentrism of relations to Japan and China, a dichotomy was kept in regard of several plotlines: he militant and reformative potentials, the role in international policy. Depending on historical circumstances, some or other features grew stronger, often being hypertrophied in mass consciousness or, vice versa, «being dissolved» in generalized images and stereotypes of the oriental (Asian) world. The dichotomy of the Orient’s two images — the progressive, dynamically Europeanizing Japan and the fossilized, obstinate in its conservatism China — became a stable stereotype for «Vostochnoye Obozreniye», too. The government of Japan and the government of China were also contradistinguished in their reformative potentials and methods of governance. In general, the newspaper assessed the military, political, civil experience of the Japanese authorities more complementary than the Chinese governors and officials. The newspaper did nor model and did not translate the image of the enemy but took into account the potential geopolitical danger of the eastern neighbors.