The image of a woman-warrior in the russian and chinese discourse: a comparative analysis

Abstract

The article examines examples of the transformation of national cultures in the process of cultural encountering. As a subject of the study, a gender transgression was chosen which was a result of the influence of nomadic cultures on Russian and Chinese cultures. The transgression or transition from normativity to new behaviors, previously considered to be a pattern unacceptable for traditional culture, is one of the most important mechanisms of survival in Frontier areas, allowing the individual to adapt quickly and successfully to the rapidly changing conditions of the cultural landscape. A meeting with the Alien culture creates a new pattern of behavior, since the Alien, and especially the Alien woman is perceived as being excessively militant and excessively sexual. Often, these two qualities are combined into one. In a situation of Frontier contacts, when military conflicts are dominant, this model of warlike behavior of a woman turns out to be normative for a culture that previously perceived it as unacceptable. Both Russian and Chinese cultures, being patriarchal, demanded obedience from women and considered female warriors as twice Aliens, and their image, often, became universal for marking the savagery of the Alien. However, in the conditions of border confrontations, the new transgressive model was gradually not only allowed by society, but in a number of cases it became the norm, especially in cases where an Alien woman was the subject of the transgression, which was shown by the example of a number of biographies from Chinese history. As a parallel material in the article, Russian epic stories about the battle of the hero (Bogatyr) with the Steppe Female Knight are analyzed. The author believes that such a folklore theme is the result of contacts of the Slavs with the Kipchaks.