Press in the Works of Russian Literature

Abstract

Russian classical literature of the 19th and early 20th centuries constitutes the whole with the finest Russian journalism of the same period. Almost all famous authors started their careers by releasing their first works of literature in magazines and even in newspapers. Nevertheless, even when gaining popularity, they continued to cooperate with periodicals, offering them their masterpieces. Thus, Leo Tolstoy published his novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina in the Russkiy Vestnik [Russian Herald] magazine, while his novel Resurrection was published in Niva, the most popular Russian magazine aimed at mass reader. The writer wanted to reach as many ordinary people as possible. Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, Demons, and The Brothers Karamazov first appeared in the same Russkiy Vestnik, along with Ivan Turgenev’s novel Fathers and Sons. This list is long indeed. Russian authors actively employed material published in press in their works. Therefore, the characters of Anna Karenina passionately discussed the events highlighted by the newspapers and magazines of that time. The references to certain periodicals, their brief description made it possible to understand better the mood and to expose the nature of their characters for the readers. During Soviet times, the attitude of the characters to certain newspapers and magazines displayed the role of media in public relations and their place in the political system of the country. Finally, thanks to the media subscriptions of the characters in novels and short stories, the reader could better understand their worldview, hobbies, and dreams. The authors set themselves the task of studying the specifics of the use of references to certain media as an artistic detail in literary works. They attempt to identify the role of such details in creating the artistic character, as well as in recreating the atmosphere and ideology of the era. They also examine references to journal articles read by the characters of a literary work from the perspective of intertextuality theory, as well as the task of revealing the peculiarities of the interaction of artistic and journalistic texts in the context of the era. The authors also raise the question of the possibility of using texts of literary works as a source for the study of media history.