Literary dialogue between capital and provinces: Anniversary cycles in “Southern Edge”

Abstract

The method of constructing dialogical relations between the regional edition and the all-Russian cultural discourse is considered. On the material of the pre-revolutionary issues of the Kharkov newspaper “Southern Edge” (1900–1905; 1914–1917), conclusions are drawn about the poetics of the “anniversary cycles” dedicated to honoring the memory of N.V. Gogol, V.A. Zhukovsky, N.A. Nekrasov, A.P. Chekhov and other Russian and foreign writers. The scientific novelty of the work lies in the attempt to discover patterns in the coverage of literary celebrations on the pages of the provincial press. The relevance of the paper is due to the fact that the study of the representation of general literary phenomena in the “Southern Edge” makes it possible to identify forms of communication between Russian literature and journalism at the beginning of the 20th century. Particular attention is paid to the genres and speech design of the anniversary cycles. The classification and plots of materials that are receptive in relation to the literary canon of the 19th century are presented. The key substantive aspects in the actualization of the works are highlighted: “Demon”, “Who is happy in Russia”, “The Government Inspector”, “Dead Souls” etc. The functional nature of the interpretation of the classics and coverage of anniversary celebrations is determined: enlightening readers, building links with the capital's periodicals, entry into the common cultural space of Russia and Europe, the formation of historical and literary memory.