Chinese perceptions of Russia and the West

This book aims at investigating changes and
continuities in Chinese perceptions of Russia and
the West during the 20th century, paying heed to
the fact that the respective ascriptions and
¿frontlines¿ were historically contingent: who and
what represented ¿Russiä or ¿the West¿ at a given
time and at a given place? Was ¿Russiä part of
¿the West¿, or not? And if it was, in which
regard? Which factors ¿ foreign or indigenous ¿
led to changes in Chinese perceptions and
representations and why? With such questions in
mind, this book was taking shape, growing out of a
German-Russian project funded by the DFG-RFBR. The
German-Russian research team from Heidelberg
University and St. Petersburg State University
worked on exploring the topic together with
colleagues from mainland China and Taiwan,
concentrating on three major areas: 1. The field
of socialization via a look into normative
descriptions of Russia and ¿the West¿ in Chinese
school textbooks which define images of the
¿other/s¿ from childhood on; 2. The field of
literature and Chinese fictional representations
of Russia and ¿the West¿ consumed by a Chinese
reading public; 3. The field of visual and
material manifestations which define images of the
¿other/s¿ in their own medial way and make them
accessible also to a public far from purely
discursive levels and to those who do not actively
look for them.