Литературный журнал Арсения Альвинга «Жатва», или Об одном забытом издании Серебряного века

Abstract

The paper is devoted to the literary magazine “Zhatva” which was published in Moscow from 1911 to 1916. Its creator and editor was a talented poet, critic and translator Arseny Alving. The tragic fate of Alving, who was repressed in 1933, did not make “Zhatva” possible to take a firm place among the outstanding periodicals of the first quarter of the 20th century. The magazine, as well as the poet, was forgotten and did not come in view of literary critics. This research paper makes the first attempt to restore the history of “Zhatva”, to characterize its aesthetic program, to outline the circle of writers grouped around the periodical. The six-year existence of the journal testifies to the constant creative search of the editor. “Zhatva”, initially presented as a literary album, existed in different genre guises (from an almanac to a literary herald), varied the composition and differed in content tolerance towards the representatives of certain artistic movements. “Zhatva” had a branched structure, the literary department published such masters of the word as A. Akhmatova, K. Balmont, V. Bryusov, S. Gorodetsky, M. Kuzmin, A. Kuprin, A. Remizov and many others. Although he was a poet, Alving strove for a balance between lyrical and prosaic material. The latter material often prevailed in the magazine. The critical section was especially popular among the writers and readers. Alving himself often published his articles there. The literary works and the criticism of the magazine give a volumetric idea of the literature of the early twentieth century as of a living, dynamic system where the literary dominants of the era were developed and the great reputation of the writers, who were declared as the classics of the Silver Age decades later, was being formed.