Sovremennik
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First issue | 1836 |
---|---|
Final issue | 1866 |
Based in | St. Petersburg |
Language | Russian |
Sovremennik (Russian: «Современник», IPA: [səvrʲɪˈmʲenʲːɪk] ⓘ, "The Contemporary") was a Russian literary, social and political magazine, published in Saint Petersburg in 1836–1866. It came out four times a year in 1836–1843 and once a month after that. The magazine published poetry, prose, critical, historical, ethnographic and other material.
Sovremennik originated as a private enterprise of
When Pushkin died, his friend
Although the magazine was owned and run by Nekrasov, its official
During the reactionary reign of Nicholas I, the journal had to struggle against censorship and complaints of disgruntled aristocracy. Its position grew more complicated after Herzen's emigration (1847) and Belinsky's death (1848). Despite these hardships, Sovremennik published works by the best Russian authors of the day: Leo Tolstoy, Turgenev and Nekrasov. Timofey Granovsky, Sergey Solovyov and other leading historians were published as well.
The period between 1852 and 1862 is considered to be the most brilliant in the history of the journal. Nekrasov managed to strike a deal with its leading contributors, whereby their new works were to be published exclusively by him. As regards ideology, Sovremennik grew more radical together with its audience. Belinsky was succeeded by
In late 1858, the magazine entered into polemics with the liberal and conservative press and became a platform for and ideological center of the revolutionary democracy, turning into a political magazine. In 1861, it published materials, dedicated to the
Such a radical stance alienated those writers who were indifferent to politics or personally disliked revolutionary intelligentsia. Although Tolstoy, Turgenev, and Dmitry Grigorovich eventually left the magazine, Sovremennik's circulation reached 7,126 copies in 1861. The death of Dobrolyubov in 1861, an 8-month suspension of publishing activities (in June 1862), and Chernyshevsky's arrest caused irreparable damage to the magazine. Its ideological stance became less clear and consistent.
In 1863, Nekrasov managed to resume publishing Sovremennik. He invited
In 1863-1866, Sovremennik published Chernyshevsky's
Sovremennik inspired Al Nafais Al Asriyyah, an Arabic literary and political magazine which was published in Jerusalem between 1908 and 1923.[1]
Featured titles
- Nikolai Chernyshevsky
- What Is to Be Done? (1863)
- Nikolai Gogol
- "The Nose" (1836)
- Ivan Goncharov
- The Same Old Story (1847)
- Mikhail Lermontov
- Borodino (1837)
- Nikolai Nekrasov
- Korobeiniki (1861)
- Who Is Happy in Russia?(1863-1876)
- Alexander Pushkin
- The Captain's Daughter (1836)
- The Bronze Horseman (1837)
- Leo Tolstoy
- Childhood (1852)
- Boyhood (1854)
- Sevastopol Sketches (1855)
- "The Snowstorm" (1856)
- Youth (1857)
- Ivan Turgenev
- A Sportsman's Sketches (1852)
- "Mumu" (1854)
- Rudin (1856)
- Home of the Gentry (1859)
- Alexander Sukhovo-Kobylin
- Krechinsky's Wedding (1855)
References
External links
- Media related to Sovremennik (magazine) at Wikimedia Commons