Vasily Zhukovsky on the pages of the maga-zine Syn Otechestva: 1812–1824

. The first half of the 19th century can rightly be called the era of "jour-nalocracy." One of the most authoritative magazines until the mid-1820s was Syn Otechestva (Son of the Fatherland), which exerted significant influence on the development of public thought and the movement of literary life in Russia. Its editor until 1839 was N.I. Grech, whose co-publisher from 1825 became F.V. Bulgarin. Furthermore, starting from the second half of the 1820s, the magazine's significance waned due to the disappearance of authors-primarily the convicted Decem-brists-and changes in the socio-political climate. This article is dedicated exclusively to Grech's Syn Otechestva, or more precisely, to the presence of Vasily Zhukovsky on the pages of the magazine from its founding in 1812 until 1825. Zhukovsky gained fame as a living classic in 1812 with his poem "The Singer in the Camp of the Russian Warriors." It is primarily as the author of "The Singer..." that Zhukovsky appears on the pages of Syn Otechestva; it is "The Singer..." that underpins the unwavering authority the poet consistently enjoys in the magazine-a natural circumstance considering the latter's strategy of positioning itself as historical and political. It became a kind of paradigm, against which all poems in Syn Otechestva would be evaluated for comparison and conformity for a long time. This poetic cantata runs through the entire magazine of Grech, not merely accompanying the critical reception of Zhukovsky, but also, as a heroic hymn to service to the Fatherland, embedding this lofty ideal into Russian public consciousness and Russian literary culture. It became the point of intersection between the moral philosophy of the "true Russian patriot" and the publication's guiding principles. One cannot overlook the aspect of Zhukovsky as a translator. Needless to say, Syn Otechestva championed the outstanding merits of the "genius of translation's" adaptations, including in cases where his mastery was questioned. This position was formed not least because "the purity of motives of the majority of heroes" in the works translated by Zhukovsky "was subordinated to patriotic service" (A.S. Yanushkevich). A panoramic view of the reception of Zhukovsky's works by the editorial board of the magazine Syn Otechestva, published by Grech (1812-1824)-from "The Singer in the Camp of the Russian Warriors," which became not only a defining phenomenon in poetry but also a genuine fact of public consciousness, to the third edition of the poet's poems in 1824; from his editorial activity at Vestnik Evropy (Herald of Europe) to his support for agents of the institutional power environment-allows for the conclusion that Zhukovsky's status on the pages of the publication during the period in question was extraordinarily high. This is dictated not only by the aesthetic merits of his works but also by the fact that Zhukovsky, in the unity of his biographical and creative aspects, is perceived as a kind of anthropological universal, fully embodying the substantial concept that lay at the foundation of the magazine's social and cultural position and gave it its name: he is a true "son of the Fatherland." The author declares no conflicts of interests.

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