The controversy between Sibirskaya Gazeta and Sibirskiy Vestnik in the feuilletons of Feliks Volkhovsky (1882–1888)

Published in Tomsk in 1881-1888, Sibirskaya Gazeta (the first major private publication in Western Siberia) entered into controversy with both metropolitan and local newspapers. The most important for the regionally oriented publication was the conflict with the centralist Sibirskiy Vestnik. The controversy was based on the understanding of the role of Siberia, its colonial position, the impact on the development of the region of criminal exile, as well as the attitude to incriminating materials. The aim of the study is to identify the features of the reflection of the conflict between Sibirskaya Gazeta and Sibirskiy Vestnik (1885-1888) in the body of feuilletons of Feliks Volkhovsky, the “tacit editor” of Sibirskaya Gazeta. During the eight years of Sibirskaya Gazeta"s existence, the exiled populist poet published 76 feuilletons in it. In 1885, with the beginning of the publication of Sibirskiy Vestnik, Volkhovsky could not be aloof from the conflict. In feuilletons, the publicist referred to various subjects of the discussion. In many ways, in the materials of Volkhovsky, the struggle between the two periodicals was reflected in the criticism of specific speeches of Sibirskiy Vestnik, in the form of answers and comments. Numerous ironic references became the main way to reflect the conflict. Thus, many ideological details of the conflict remained outside the scope of the publicist’s work. Important for Volkhovsky was the very fact of creating a newspaper, which should serve the people and promote their moral development, by criminal exiles. Another important point in reflecting the conflict was the attitude towards understanding the role of the press. For Volkhovsky, as an active follower of the satirical journalism of the 1860s, it was important to designate the press as an “objective reflection of social life”, including the denunciations arising from this thesis. The feuilletons of the publicist in the context of the controversy between Sibirskaya Gazeta and Sibirskiy Vestnik were part of the metatext formed by the regionally oriented publication. The main function of feuilletons, unlike program articles, was to reflect the conflict with the discrediting of opponents’ specific speeches, not always associated with the purposes of publications. The authors declare no conflicts of interests.

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