Подпись как элемент самопрезентации читателя «Нового времени»

Abstract

The study examines the signatures of the “Novoye vremya” newspaper’s readers in their letters to A.S. Suvorin in 1904–1905 as an element of self-presentation. In peacetime they introduced themselves as regular readers and subscribers, thus claiming extra attention to their opinions from the addressee. The Russo-Japanese war had an impact on the self-presentation of readers, who introduced themselves as part of a social stratum related to events on the front line: sailor’s wife, artillery officer’s mother, etc. Readers who opposed the strikes of 1905 ascribed themselves to social groups that found the students’ demands unreasonable (peasant) or to the same social group, but objecting to the protests (student’s mother, law student, professor). Considering the handwriting together with the subject of the letter and the signature indicates the senders were using a mask. This was inspired by Suvorin’s distinctive practice described as a model of the game, which allowed the senders to elevate their status and significance. Readers spoke out on behalf of the part of society that the editor wished to see in them. The newspaper’s agenda determined the subjects of their letters, with a persistent connection established between the subject and the signature, the signature and the subject supporting it. The sender imitated the genre of newspaper articles and a possible reaction of the member of a particular social group that they spoke on behalf of without being one. The “public opinion” generated in this manner could be used by the newspaper in its dialogue with the authorities, which would have struggled to ignore it.