Japanese Students Reading Stories by A. Platonov: The Experience of Dialogical Understanding
Based on emotional psychology, the article examines how Japanese students perceive the works of A. Platonov. We asked 53 survey participants to read his stories “The Unknown Flower (Fairy Tale)” and “Return” and to answer questions about the degree of absorption, appreciation and to what degree they...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Russian Academy of Sciences, A.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature
2025-03-01
|
| Series: | Studia Litterarum |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://studlit.ru/images/2025-10-1/11_Nonaka_Zhao.pdf |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1849739661605339136 |
|---|---|
| author | Susumu Nonaka Danning Zhao |
| author_facet | Susumu Nonaka Danning Zhao |
| author_sort | Susumu Nonaka |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Based on emotional psychology, the article examines how Japanese students perceive the works of A. Platonov. We asked 53 survey participants to read his stories “The Unknown Flower (Fairy Tale)” and “Return” and to answer questions about the degree of absorption, appreciation and to what degree they were moved in connection with what they read. Survey participants also wrote in free form, their opinions about the artistic features of the stories as well as about the worldview depicted in them. A quantitative analysis of the results shows that, in general, Japanese students found it difficult to sympathize with Platonic stories, although they demonstrated immersion in the text and appreciated the works. Qualitative analysis shows that the students entered into a dialogic understanding, quite freely developing their thoughts about the theme and expression of the stories. Students paid particular attention to three thematic elements: a) suffering and its reward (in “The Unknown Flower”), b) multiple points of views and human relations (in “Return”), c) a sense of the uncontrollability of life (in “Returns”). Given that Japanese students read Platonov’s stories without sufficient knowledge of their historical and cultural contexts, one can conclude that these thematic elements can provide material for discussing what constitutes a “universal” appeal (in terms of accessibility to readers of different times and cultural backgrounds) of Platonov’s literary works. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-ff89e69f7c8e4e4b803c40af8d3deb33 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2500-4247 2541-8564 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | Russian Academy of Sciences, A.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Studia Litterarum |
| spelling | doaj-art-ff89e69f7c8e4e4b803c40af8d3deb332025-08-20T03:06:13ZengRussian Academy of Sciences, A.M. Gorky Institute of World LiteratureStudia Litterarum2500-42472541-85642025-03-0110118821310.22455/2500-4247-2025-10-1-188-213Japanese Students Reading Stories by A. Platonov: The Experience of Dialogical UnderstandingSusumu Nonaka0Danning Zhao1Saitama University, Saitama, Sakura-ku, JapanSaitama University, Saitama, Sakura-ku, JapanBased on emotional psychology, the article examines how Japanese students perceive the works of A. Platonov. We asked 53 survey participants to read his stories “The Unknown Flower (Fairy Tale)” and “Return” and to answer questions about the degree of absorption, appreciation and to what degree they were moved in connection with what they read. Survey participants also wrote in free form, their opinions about the artistic features of the stories as well as about the worldview depicted in them. A quantitative analysis of the results shows that, in general, Japanese students found it difficult to sympathize with Platonic stories, although they demonstrated immersion in the text and appreciated the works. Qualitative analysis shows that the students entered into a dialogic understanding, quite freely developing their thoughts about the theme and expression of the stories. Students paid particular attention to three thematic elements: a) suffering and its reward (in “The Unknown Flower”), b) multiple points of views and human relations (in “Return”), c) a sense of the uncontrollability of life (in “Returns”). Given that Japanese students read Platonov’s stories without sufficient knowledge of their historical and cultural contexts, one can conclude that these thematic elements can provide material for discussing what constitutes a “universal” appeal (in terms of accessibility to readers of different times and cultural backgrounds) of Platonov’s literary works.https://studlit.ru/images/2025-10-1/11_Nonaka_Zhao.pdfandrei platonovempirical approach of literary studiesreception of fictionemotional psychology“being moved.” |
| spellingShingle | Susumu Nonaka Danning Zhao Japanese Students Reading Stories by A. Platonov: The Experience of Dialogical Understanding Studia Litterarum andrei platonov empirical approach of literary studies reception of fiction emotional psychology “being moved.” |
| title | Japanese Students Reading Stories by A. Platonov: The Experience of Dialogical Understanding |
| title_full | Japanese Students Reading Stories by A. Platonov: The Experience of Dialogical Understanding |
| title_fullStr | Japanese Students Reading Stories by A. Platonov: The Experience of Dialogical Understanding |
| title_full_unstemmed | Japanese Students Reading Stories by A. Platonov: The Experience of Dialogical Understanding |
| title_short | Japanese Students Reading Stories by A. Platonov: The Experience of Dialogical Understanding |
| title_sort | japanese students reading stories by a platonov the experience of dialogical understanding |
| topic | andrei platonov empirical approach of literary studies reception of fiction emotional psychology “being moved.” |
| url | https://studlit.ru/images/2025-10-1/11_Nonaka_Zhao.pdf |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT susumunonaka japanesestudentsreadingstoriesbyaplatonovtheexperienceofdialogicalunderstanding AT danningzhao japanesestudentsreadingstoriesbyaplatonovtheexperienceofdialogicalunderstanding |