Abstract: This article is dedicated to the analysis of peculiarities of representation of emigrant’s fate in the novel “Katya the Chinese” by the contemporary Russian writer Dmitri Prigov. The subject of this research is the system of characters in the novel, namely the images of the protagonist Katya and her nanny. This is an interdisciplinary research with emphasis on the cultural-historical and hermeneutical methods. The plotline of the novel revolves around the life of the girl Katya, the daughter of the representative of white émigré in China. The role of an intermediary in Katya’s adaptation to the civilizational space of China was played by her nanny, since she was a typical representative of the “people” and an exemplary bearer of Chinese traditional culture. The author aims to comprehensively examine the plotline of the novel through the prism of the processes of cultural assimilation, which defines the novelty of this research. The conclusion lies in outlining the stages of the protagonist’s assimilation to the cultural space of China: language, social, behavioral, and spiritual. The article indicates the effectiveness of studying the novel in the context of the history of white émigré. The heroine's departure from China makes her to reconsider personal identity, which in many ways has become “Chinese”. The story of the girl Katya allows the author to describe the emigrant’s fate, who is forced to spend his life upon the road and constantly adapt to foreign cultural spaces.