2019 №1 (62) Article 5

Yu. Solodyankina

WESTERN CIVILIZATION VIEWED THROUGH THE EYES OF CHINESE PEOPLE: A TEXTBOOK REVIEW

UDC 1(510):008(-15)

The article reviews a textbook called “The Excellent Figures in Western Culture: Names Worth Knowing in China”, which was prepared by the professorial staff of Shanghai Technological Institute for Chinese students studying the English language. The textbook contains biographies of 133 prominent scientists, scholars, musicians, artists and some politicians who have played a significant role in Western history. The book contains practically no information on engineers and technologists. All entries focus on the contribution made by these people to Western civilization. The analysis of the textbook shows that the Chinese people value literary, philosophical and artistic heritage, but are rather indifferent to political and economic aspects of Western civilization. The textbook contains parallel texts in English and Chinese. The author of the article underlines that the textbook contains some misleading information, while the list of prominent figures includes only five Russian people, which presents a totally distorted view of the Russian contribution to the development of world culture. Hence, political intentions of the authors of the textbook are clear. The article maintains that in an attempt to solve linguistic tasks, the textbook shapes a simplified and ideologically loaded image of Western civilization.

 

cultural figures; cultural dialogue; image of Western civilization

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