Narodnichestvo and Siberian regionalism in Feliks Volkhovsky’s feuilletons in Sibirskaya Gazeta (1882–1888)

Researchers of Siberian journalism of the late 19th - early 20th centuries often faced the problem of coexistence of two ideologies - Siberian regionalism and Narodnichestvo (“populism”) in provincial publications, as well as in works of specific opinion journalists. This situation was due to the mass exile of representatives of Narodnichestvo to Siberia in the 1880s, including as part of the Trial of the 193, and their search for their place in a region new for them. Representatives of the Narodnichestvo movement, who before their exile were actively engaged in agitation, including journalistic activities, often became employees of periodicals in Siberia and had a significant influence on their development and ideology. One of these populists exiled to Siberia was Feliks Volkhovsky, who eventually became the unspoken editor of Sibirskaya Gazeta. During its eight years of existence, Sibirskaya Gazeta published 355 fiction and publicistic fiction texts. Volkhovsky was the author of more than 100 materials, including 76 feuilletons. In addition to feuilletons, he published poems, essays, theater reviews and literary critical materials in Sibirskaya Gazeta. In many ways, it was Volkhovsky’s feuilletons that became the subject of close attention from the censorship department, as well as a stumbling block in editorial meetings. The aim of the study is to identify Siberian regionalism and Narodnichestvo ideologemes in Volkhovsky’s feuilletons published in Sibirskaya Gazeta. The main research methods are historicalliterary and comparative-typological methods, and the method of descriptive poetics. The material for the study is Volkhovsky’s feuilletons published in Sibirskaya Gazeta under pseudonyms in 1882-1888. Work in the feuilleton genre allowed Volkhovsky, an exiled Narodnichestvo poet, to share his ideas on the pages of the censored provincial publication Sibirskaya Gazeta. The analysis of the feuilletons shows that they manifest Volkhovsky’s “populist” views and regionalist ideas. Despite the fictionalization of Volkhovsky’s feuilletons, one of their key features was their focus on opinion journalism. In Sibirskaya Gazeta, Volkhovsky repeatedly revealed his “populist” and regionalist positions, uniting two ideological poles coexisting within the editorial office. The merger of the ideologemes of Siberian regionalism and Narodnichestvo can be traced in Volkhovsky’s feuilletons in combinations of specific details of images and intersections of various theses. The authors declare no conflicts of interests.

Keywords

Authors

References