Reception of A.P. Chekhov's play “The Cherry Orchard” in China

Abstract

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov is a well-known Russian writer and playwright in China. During his life, he created many works that are familiar to the Chinese readers. It is generally recognized that Chekhov's plays open a new page in the history of drama and theater. The Cherry Orchard, Chekhov's last work, is considered one of his most mature dramatic works and today has a debatable character in literary criticism, its interpretations are offered to the audience on the theater stage all over the world, including in China. This article aims to trace the evolution of the reception of the named work in Chinese critical thought, as well as to reflect the history of the productions of The Cherry Orchard in the theater of China. The subject of this work is the reception of the play "The Cherry Orchard" in Chinese literary criticism, the study of the history of its translation and staging in various historical periods in China. The main research methods used are descriptive and historical. The author of the study tries to characterize the main features of the perception of the work and productions of The Cherry Orchard in China, which are determined by the change in the socio-historical conditions of the state. Critical and literary works of Chinese researchers of A.P. Chekhov's work are used as material for analysis. In this regard, the present study seems to be relevant, since the author develops a scientific discussion around the Chekhov work under consideration. The theoretical novelty of the article lies in the fact that the works of Chinese literary critics are introduced into scientific circulation, devoted to the problems of reception of the images of the play, its plot and ideological originality, and analyzes the performances of "The Cherry Orchard" by Chinese directors.