The studies and translations of Sergey Dovlatov in China

Abstract

The article provides an overview of all Chinese translations of Sergey Dovlatov’s works and a systemized summary of the most representative academic articles authored by renowned Chinese scholars of Russian philology, as well as candidate’s and master’s theses and a monograph. The author highlights the approaches by Chinese specialists to Dovlatov’s oeuvre and points out the lack of translations and consistent effort to deepen academic knowledge about the writer. Since most translations appear in academic journals and only two of his books have been published inChina, Dovlatov’s works remain largely unknown to the public. Focusing on Dovlatov as a representative of the third-wave Russian emigration and a Postmodernist in the late part of the 20th c., Chinese philologists have centred their research on misfi    and outcasts in Dovlatov’s books, his distinctive sense of humour, and his manner of depicting Soviet reality as absurd.