In the history of

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, thick journal or thick magazine (, ') was a type of literary magazine, regarded to be an important tradition originated in

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

, continued through the times of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and into the modern

.Marc Raeff, ''Russia Abroad: A Cultural History of the Russian Emigration, 1919-1939'', , 1990
pp. 85-86
/ref>
in: Светлана Яковлевна Махонина, ИСТОРИЯ РУССКОЙ ЖУРНАЛИСТИКИ НАЧАЛА XX ВЕКА, М.: Флинта: Наука, 2004Leonid P. Bykov
The ‘Thick Journal’ in Russia:Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
'' Journal of Siberian Federal University''. Humanities & Social Sciences 5 (2016 9) 1249-1255 The name comes from its format: a typical 19th-century issue of a "thick journal" was 300–500 pages, appeared several times a year. The volume was roughly divided between literary publications (short stories, serialized novels, drama, poetry, etc., including translations) and journalism (criticism of literature, arts, music, political and social reviews and essays, calendars and reviews of current events, etc). Literary reputations were fostered mainly through thick journals. In late Russian Empire it was a major vehicle of propagation of culture across the vast expanses of the country, as well as a major component of cultural life of Russian emigres. Notable examples of early "thick journals" include ''Вестник Европы'', «Московский телеграф», «Телескоп», «Библиотека для чтения», «Современник», «Отечественные записки», «Мир божий», «Жизнь», «Образование», «Современная жизнь».

History

Early origins

The thick journal, usually distributed once a onth, was originally a phenomenon of the Western European

Enlightenment Enlightenment or enlighten may refer to: Age of Enlightenment * Age of Enlightenment, period in Western intellectual history from the late 17th to late 18th century, centered in France but also encompassing (alphabetically by country or culture): ...

, a means to circulate ideas to a small, educated public. In the nineteenth century its influence they faced competition both from journals and magazines that offered entertainment and information for a wider audience, and their influence diminished.

Imperial Russia, 1755 - 1917

The first independent Russian journal was Ezhemesiachnye sochineniya, k pol'ze i uveseleniyu sluzhashchie (Monthly Writings Serving Purpose and Enjoyment; 1755–1797), edited by Gerhard Friedrich Mueller, of the

St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation; and additional scientific and social units such ...

. Inspired by the principles of the European Enlightenment, it was followed by an ever-increasing number of similar undertakings on different subjects, including literature. Many famous authors created their own Thick Journals. Aleksandr Pushkin launched ''

Sovremennik ''Sovremennik'' ( rus, «Современник», p=səvrʲɪˈmʲenʲːɪk, a=Ru-современник.ogg, "The Contemporary") was a Russian literary, social and political magazine, published in Saint Petersburg in 1836–1866. It came out f ...

(the contemporary),'' which became a famous liberal vehicle, and ran for 30 years, from 1836-1866.

Nikolai Karamzin Nikolay Mikhailovich Karamzin () was a Russian historian, writer, poet and critic. He is best remembered for his fundamental ''History of the Russian State'', a 12-volume national history. Early life Karamzin was born in the small village of ...

created Moskovskii Zhurnal (Moscow Journal; 1791–1792),

Dostoevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian and world literature, and many of his works are considered highly influenti ...

launched two different journals, called ''Epokha (Epoch)'' and ''Vremya (Time)''. A Number of other journals was launched after the 1861 reforms, which lessened censorship in the Russian Empire. Some of the most influential thick journals of the time were '' Russkii vestnik (Russian Messenger)'', in which

Ivan Turgenev Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev ( ; rus, links=no, Иван Сергеевич ТургеневIn Turgenev's day, his name was written ., p=ɪˈvan sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ tʊrˈɡʲenʲɪf; – ) was a Russian novelist, short story writer, poe ...

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using Reforms of Russian orthography#The post-revolution re ...

, and Fyodor Dostoyevsky published major works, and ''Russkaia mysl' (Russian Thought''; 1880–1900), to which

Vladimir Korolenko Vladimir Galaktionovich Korolenko (, ; 27 July 1853 – 25 December 1921) was a Russian writer, journalist and humanitarian of Ukrainian origin. His best-known work includes the short novel '' The Blind Musician'' (1886), as well as numerous shor ...

Nikolai Leskov Nikolai Semyonovich Leskov (; – ) was a Russian novelist, short-story writer, playwright, and journalist, who also wrote under the pseudonym M. Stebnitsky. Praised for his unique writing style and innovative experiments in form, and held ...

, and

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; ; 29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer, widely considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his b ...

contributed.

Soviet Russia, 1917 - 1989

Towards the end of the Imperial Period, Thick Journals seemed to be dminishing in popularity, mirroing what had happened in Western Europe. They were however revived by the Bolsheviks, who had taken control of the press, and who needed a new authoritative forum. Many important publications were launched in the 20s and 30s,

Novy Mir ''Novy Mir'' (, ) is a Russian-language monthly literary magazine. History ''Novy Mir'' has been published in Moscow since January 1925. It was supposed to be modelled on the popular pre-Soviet literary magazine ''Mir Bozhy'' ("God's World"), w ...

(1925-),

Oktyabr (magazine) ''Oktyabr'' ( rus, Октябрь, p=ɐkˈtʲabrʲ, a=Ru-октябрь.ogg, "October'") was a monthly Russian literary magazine based in Moscow. It was in circulation between 1924 and 2019. In addition to ''Novy Mir'' and ''Znamya'' the monthly ...

(1925-),

Znamya (newspaper) ''Znamya'' ("''Banner''", , ) was a newspaper established by ultra-nationalist Black Hundreds journalist Pavel Krushevan in Petersburg. It is known for printing the first published version of the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" in the i ...

(1931-), all based in Moscow,

Zvezda (magazine) ''Zvezda'' () is a Russian literary magazine published in Saint Petersburg since 1924. It began as a bimonthly, but has been monthly since 1927. History The first issue of ''Zvezda'' appeared in January 1924, with Ivan Maisky as editor-in-ch ...

(1924-), based in Leningrad, ''Sibirskie ogni'' (1922-), based in Novosibirsk, ''Don'' (1925-), based in Rostov-on-Don 1925, and ''Zvezda Vostoka (1932-)'', based in Tashkent. Thick journals were trend-setters and cultural icons, that could start literary careers and end them. In 1948, a campaign of Zhdanovism was directed against thick journals

and ''Leningrad'', for having published works by

Anna Akhmatova Anna Andreyevna Gorenko rus, А́нна Андре́евна Горе́нко, p=ˈanːə ɐnˈdrʲe(j)ɪvnə ɡɐˈrʲɛnkə, a=Anna Andreyevna Gorenko.ru.oga, links=yes; , . ( – 5 March 1966), better known by the pen name Anna Akhmatova,. ...

and

Mikhail Zoshchenko Mikhail Mikhailovich Zoshchenko (; – 22 July 1958) was a Soviet and Russian writer and satirist. Biography Zoshchenko was born in 1894, in Saint Petersburg, Russia, according to his 1953 autobiography. Other sources suggest that he was born i ...

. During the 50s and 60s, a few of these magazines had massive influence, publishing some of the most iconic books of the period. ''Novy Mir'' published

Not by Bread Alone ''Not by Bread Alone'' () is a 1956 novel by the Soviet author Vladimir Dudintsev. The novel, published in installments in the journal ''Novy Mir'', was a sensation in the USSR. The tale of an engineer who is opposed by bureaucrats in seeking ...

, by Dudintsev, and A day in the life of Ivan Denisovich, by

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn. (11 December 1918 – 3 August 2008) was a Soviet and Russian author and Soviet dissidents, dissident who helped to raise global awareness of political repression in the Soviet Union, especially the Gulag pris ...

. Its cultural influence was so massive that Historian Cecile Vaissie has claimed that without its Editor-in-Chief,

Aleksandr Tvardovsky Aleksandr Trifonovich Tvardovsky ( rus, links=no, Александр Трифонович Твардовский, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr ˈtrʲifənəvʲɪtɕ tvɐrˈdofskʲɪj; – 18 December 1971) was a Soviet poet and writer and chief editor of ' ...

, the 60s would not have happened. ''Novyi Mir'' became so associated with liberal intelligentsia that it received hundreds of readers's letters not only in response to its publication, but also on human rights matters, such as the Pasternak affair, when he published

Doctor Zhivago (novel) ''Doctor Zhivago'' ( ; ) is a novel by Russian poet, author and composer Boris Pasternak, first published in 1957 in Italy. The novel is named after its protagonist, Yuri Zhivago, a physician and poet, and takes place between the Russian Revolut ...

outside the USSR and was expelled from the country for it, and the

Sinyavsky–Daniel trial The Sinyavsky–Daniel trial () was a show trial in the Soviet Union against the writers Andrei Sinyavsky and Yuli Daniel in February 1966. Sinyavsky and Daniel were convicted of the offense of anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda in a Moscow c ...

. Other classics of the period also came out in Thick Journals before appearing as books, such as

Mikhail Bulgakov Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov ( ; rus, links=no, Михаил Афанасьевич Булгаков, p=mʲɪxɐˈil ɐfɐˈnasʲjɪvʲɪdʑ bʊlˈɡakəf; – 10 March 1940) was a Russian and Soviet novelist and playwright. His novel ''The M ...

The Master and Margarita ''The Master and Margarita'' () is a novel by Mikhail Bulgakov, written in the Soviet Union between 1928 and 1940. A censored version, with several chapters cut by editors, was published posthumously in ''Moscow (magazine), Moscow'' magazine in ...

, published by journal

Moskva (magazine) ''Moskva'' (Москва, Moscow) is a Russian monthly literary magazine founded in 1957 in Moscow. It is published on a monthly basis. History ''Moskva'' magazine was established in 1957, originally as an organ of the RSFSR Union of Writers and i ...

Modern Russia

References

{{Reflist Literary magazines published in Russia