Abstract: Depictions of India in Russian literature began to appear after the Christianization of Rus’. From ancient times to the present day, the mystical aura surrounding India rendered it a subject of sustained fascination and literary representation among Russian writers. Their imagined and constructed portrayals of India, shaped by their own cultural needs, also served as a projection and reflection of the Russian national worldview and cosmology. In Old Rus’ literature, India was often portrayed as a distant land of wealth, wonder, piety, and wisdom. From the 15th century onward, with the increase of Russian-India exchanges, the “myth of India” gradually faded. By the 19th century, Russian writers generally adopted a more objective and rational perspective toward India, with figures such as Leo Tolstoy even showing concern for issues like British colonial rule over India. From the 10th to the 19th centuries, the image of India in Russian literary discourse underwent a process of disenchantment, shifting from an earthly paradise to a impoverished British colony. This transformation was not only closely related to the binary oppositional logic of Russian cultural thought, but also shaped by the reflections of Russia’s educated elites on social realities and issues of national identity.

Key words: Russian literature, the image of India, The Tale of the Indian Kingdom, Travels Beyond Three Seas, Leo Tolstoy

摘要： 俄国文学对印度的描写出现于罗斯受洗之后。从古至今,笼罩在印度身上的奇幻色彩使其成为众多俄国作家关注和书写的对象,而他们基于自身需求对印度形象的想象与建构亦是俄罗斯民族世界观和宇宙观的投射和反映。在古罗斯的文献中,印度往往以富庶神奇、虔诚智慧的遥远国度的形象出现;自15世纪起,随着俄印交往的增多,“印度神话”逐渐破灭;直至19世纪,俄国作家普遍趋于以客观理性的态度看待印度,列夫·托尔斯泰等作家更是关注到英国对印度的殖民统治等问题。纵观10–19世纪的俄国文学,印度形象经历了从人间天堂到贫穷的英属殖民地的祛魅化演变历程,究其原因,既与俄罗斯民族二元对立的思维模式密切相关,亦是由俄国文化精英对社会现实与民族认同等问题的思考所决定的。

关键词: 俄国文学, 印度形象, 《印度王国的传说》, 《三海旅行记》, 列夫·托尔斯泰