The theme of English and Russian colonialism in Ivan Goncharov's The Frigate "Pallada"

The colonial problems of Ivan Goncharov's book The Frigate "Pallada " has been considered in the context of the modern theory of post-colonialism and Orientalism for the first time in the article. In addition, the Russian (Siberian) colonization has been particularly considered. The relevance of the article is determined by its reference to the modern theory of post-colonialism and orientalism as well as to the extremely insufficient study of the colonial problems in The Frigate "Pallada ". The article aims to analyze Goncharov's attitude to colonialism in general and its English (European) and Russian (Siberian) variants in particular. The material for analysis has been the text of The Frigate "Pallada", Goncharov's letters about his journey, and theoretical insights into the theory of post-colonialism made by its founder E. Said and contemporary scholars of literary, historical, philosophical and cultural aspects of colonialism and Orientalism. The research methods of text analysis are a literary method and a cultural one according to the problems discussed in the article. The terms Occident and Orient as cultural concepts and the colonial problems associated with them are analyzed. Goncharov's (simultaneously writer's and civil officer's) position and attitude to colonialism are considered in the article. The fundamental idea of Said's theory is the creation of a certain image of the Orient in the Western academic and literary tradition. Gon-charov also creates his own images of the Orient: the European colonial Orient and the Siberian Russian one and his personal representations of them. Goncharov compares the Russian and European variants of colonization in The Frigate "Pallada". From his point of view, they are fundamentally different in their nature. Goncharov's European Orient seems to be largely negative, and the Siberian Russian one tends to be ideally positive. Goncharov describes the Russian colonialism in Siberia as unique and contrasts it with the English one (and European in general). The author correlates the position of the English colonialists and their behavior towards the natives of Africa and Asia and Russian colonialists' behavior in Siberia. Being an adherent of progress, the author notes the appearance of numerous civilization benefits in the English colonies: bridges, roads, cities, etc. Nevertheless, simultaneously being a great humanist, Goncharov can not help criticizing the exploitation of the native population by British colonialists, opium trade with the Chinese people for the sake of profit, and other negative manifestations of the English colonialism. However, observing Russian colonialists in Siberia, Goncharov emphasizes a much more humane, as it seems to him, treatment of the indigenous population: the Tungus, the Yakuts, and others. The author also highlights the ability of the Russian culture to coexist harmoniously and mix with the cultures of the colonized peoples.

Keywords

Authors

References