Russian Women’s Magazines and Women’s Reading in the 18th Century: Focused on “The Monthly Mode, or Library for Ladies’ Room”

Abstract

본 연구는 근대 러시아 여성잡지와 여성독자, 나아가 여성필자/작가 형성이 관련성을 조명하고 그 다층적 국면을 검토하고자 기획되었다. 이러한 연구의 첫 단계로서 본고에서는 18세기 러시아에서 여성독자를 탄생시키고 여성문학을 형성한 주요한 문화적 장치로서 여성잡지에 주목하고, 잡지에 게재된 작품들의 독해를 통해 당대 여성의 독서 목록과 내용을 탐색함으로써 독자로서의 여성의 탄생 과정의 일면을 살펴보고자 한다. 이를 위해 본고에서는 1779년 러시아 최초로 여성독자를 대상으로 하여 출간되 노비코프의 여성잡지 월간유행, 부인용 문고(Модное ежемесячное издание, или Библиотека для дамского туалета) 에 주목하고자 한다. 그의 잡지는 발간 당시 여성독자들 가운데 선풍적인 인기를 끌거나 잡지문학사에 큰 족적을 남기지는 못하였으나 이후 여성잡지 출간의 붐을 일으키는 역할을 담당했다. 또한 노비코프는 누구보다도 먼저 여성을 진지한 독자로 인식했다는 점에서 근대 여성의 독서문화를 탐색하기 위해서는 그의 잡지로부터 연구를 시작하는 것이 마땅하다. 이를 위해 본론 2장에서는 근대 러시아 여성매체가 여성의 독서에 어떻게 관계하였는지를 알아보기 위해 먼저 여성잡지의 등장을 가능하게 했던 당대 러시아의 사회문화적 배경을 살펴보고, 3장에서는 노비코프의 잡지에 수록된 텍스트를 독해하고 작품 목록과 내용을 분석하였다. 마지막으로 4장에서는 러시아 여성잡지가 여성독자들의 문학적 취향을 주조한 내용을 정리하고, 노비코프 잡지가 지니는 한계와 의미를 탐색하며 글을 마무리 하였다.This study was designed to shed light on the relevance of modern Russian women’s magazines and the formation of female readers and women’s writers and to examine its dimensions. As the first step in this study, this paper aims to pay attention to women’s magazines as a major cultural device that gave birth to female readers and formed women’s literature in Russia in the 18th century. It also seeks to explore the reading lists and contents of women’s daily reading through the reading comprehension of works published in magazines, thereby taking a look at a glimpse of the process of women’s birth as readers. To this end, this paper focuses on the women’s magazine The Monthly Mode, or Library for Ladies’ Room, published in 1779 by N. I. Novikov, which was first published for female readers in Russia. The magazine was published from January to December 1779, first in Petersburg, then in Moscow from the May issue, a total of 12. Novikov, above all, was convinced that literature and media play the first role in education, wanted to enlighten the masses, consider their spiritual maturity as his mission, and produce a journal that could be read by all classes in need of enlightenment. In this context, the publication of a women’s magazine in 1779 is the result of Novikov’s efforts to provide reading for women. Actually his magazine was not popular among female readers at the time of its publication, but it later played a role in creating a boom for women’s magazine publication. Given that Novikov recognized women as serious readers before anyone else, it is fair to start studying in his magazine to explore modern women’s reading culture. Therefore in Chapter 2 of this paper, we look at the social and cultural background of Russia of the time, which enabled the emergence of women’s magazines first to find out how modern Russian women’s media were involved in women’s reading. In Chapter 3 we read the text contained in Novikov’s magazine and analyze the list and contents of the works. Finally, in Chapter 4, We look at how Russian women’s magazines developed literary tastes for female readers in the late 18th century, and reflect on the limitations and meaning of Novikov’s magazine.