THE CONCEPT OF "CHINESE CHILDHOOD" OR "CHILDHOOD IN THE CHINESE STYLE" IN CONTEMPORARY CULTURAL STUDIES

Abstract

B a c k g r o u n d . The article is devoted to the cultural studies of childhood. Cultural studies of childhood constitute a theoretical field of contemporary cultural inquiry that continues to take shape at the intersection of multiple disciplines – from anthropology, sociology, ethnography, philosophy, and childhood psychology to art studies focusing on contemporary children's artistic practices. The purpose of the article is to offer a cultural studies perspective for understanding the phenomenon of childhood within the typology of Western and Eastern cultures. The author defines the concept of "Chinese childhood" ("childhood in the Chinese style") as a methodological resource for cultural studies of childhood. The relevance of this research topic is underscored by the ongoing radical transformations in the segment of children's culture in contemporary China.

M e t h o d s . The study methodologically draws on P. Ariès's axiological approach to childhood culture and on the conceptualization of childhood as a cultural universal proposed by S. Krymsky. Additionally, the concept of "childhood in the Chinese style" is developed.

R e s u l t s . The concept of Chinese childhood culture is constructed as a research case that integrates spatio-temporal, ethical, aesthetic, socio-cultural, literary, ergonomic, political-legal, and ecological features of its existence and definition.

C o n c l u s i o n s . The proposed universalist methodology conceptualizes the cultural universal of childhood and enables the identification of theoretical invariants for understanding "childhoods" as the childhoods of different cultures, exemplified by those of the East and the West. Using examples from contemporary practices of Chinese children's culture (literature and urbanism), the article demonstrates the heuristic potential of childhood as a cultural universal and models its resourcefulness in the practical engagement with children's culture.  The demarginalization of childhood as a significant strategy in contemporary Chinese culture (childhood in the Chinese style) necessitates the identification of its key markers, such as children's time, children's space, and children's everyday life.