Ivan Yefremov and China

The article analyzes the place that China occupies in the works of Ivan Antonovich Yefremov (1908 – 1972), a Soviet Russian paleontologist, author of science fiction and historical novels and short stories. The relevance of the article is determined by the fact that the role and place of China in the works of I. A. Yefremov has not been previously considered. The key sources are the novels and stories of I. A. Yefremov, his correspondence, as well as published archival materials. I. A. Yefremov's attitude to China, the population of China, the achievements of Chinese civilization were complex and ambiguous. Along with admiration for the cultural and scientific achievements of China, there is a critical attitude towards the authoritarian methods of management and manipulation of the masses. The Chinese flavor, which paints the world of the planet Tormance in the science fiction novel «The Bull’s Hour», performs several tasks: it helps to bypass Soviet censorship, and also draws attention to the general authoritarian tendencies in the development of industrial societies. The ambivalence of the image of China is clearly manifested in the last novel by A. I. Yefremov «Thais of Athens».

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