Pleasant and Useful Pastime Journal: The Formation of the Literary Canon

Abstract

The paper considers the role of Pleasant and Useful Pastime journal in the formation of the Russian literary canon. The journal had been published for five years; in the 1790s it was widely known. As an educational periodical addressed to students of Moscow University and pupils of Moscow University Pan-
 sion for Nobility, it aimed to serve as a literary reference point and educate the readers’ aesthetic tastes. 
 The paper deals with the canon composition which includes authors of the recent past, who had already received recognition by the end of the 18th century (M.V. Lomonosov, A.P. Sumarokov) and contemporary writers (G.R. Derzhavin, 
 I.I. Dmitriev, N.M. Karamzin). The canon is determined by selecting the texts of exemplary authors as well as through assessment of the writers’ work given in literary texts, critical articles, and editorial notes. The journal is generally char-
 acterized by a sentimentalist tendency that was relevant at that time (despite the editors’ different aesthetic positions, for example, V.S. Podshivalov and P.A. Sokhatsky), which was reflected in the version of the literary canon presented in it. 
 The periodical focuses on new sentimental patterns. The work belonged to classics and Derzhavin, a recognized contemporary, is reinterpreted within a sentimental paradigm.