The conflict of the Novoe Russkoe Slovo and Novyy Amerikanets newspapers: Toward the history of the emigrant media

The aim of the article is to identify the causes and details of the conflict between the 20th-century emigrant newspapers Novoe Russkoe Slovo [The New Russian Word] and Novyy Amerikanets [The New American]. To achieve the aim, it was necessary to study the details of the conflict and make attempts to restore the causal relationship of the editors’ enmity. One of the sources of the work is M. V. Khlebnikov’s book Dovlatov and the Third Wave. Tides and Shoals, which describes the conflict situations between the editions, as well as the history of the creation of the newspaper Novyy Amerikanets by B. I. Metter, A. G. Orlov, E. Rubin, and S. D. Dovlatov. Dovlatov’s collection of short stories Remeslo [Craft], largely autobiographical, was also partially used in the research process. Some facts from the book were cross-checked by comparison with the works of contemporaries, memoirs of the authors of Novyy Amerikanets, and materials from the newspapers under study. Articles by A. Sedykh, editor-in-chief of Novoe Russkoe Slovo, about the third wave of emigration are also a crucial source of the work. Thus, the methods of comparison and induction were used in the course of the research. As the analysis shows, Novoe Russkoe Slovo and Novyy Amerikanets polemics are the epitome of the generational conflict of Russian emigration. The reason for the hostility of the editorial offices was not only competition, but also a difference in views, both literary and political. Despite the fact that the first and third waves were united by the rejection of Soviet power, Sedykh and his contemporaries, whose departure from the country was associated with dramatic revolutionary events, found it difficult to find common ground with the generation of Dovlatov, who lived half his life under Soviet rule and did not always declare anti-communist views directly. If one of the reasons for the departure of the representatives of the first wave was salvation, then the last emigrants of the 20th century sought a life without restrictions and with respect for human rights. Despite Sedykh’s words that all emigrations are equal and should unite, some sources make it clear that the third wave was never recognized by its predecessors. United by a common problem, they did not find common ground in literary work either - the gap between writers and journalists of the first and last emigration of the 20th century was enormous and became another conflict between the conservatives and the innovators. The author declares no conflicts of interests.

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