The Illustrated Magazine Dobryak Published by Prince V. P. Meshchersky in the Context of Conservative Journalism Development in the Second Half of the 19th Century

Section: History of Journalism

The article examines the problem-thematic complex and genre originality of Prince V. P. Meshchersky’ unique publishing project – the satirical illustrated weekly Dobryak, published in 1882. The originality of this publication is accounted for by the fact that it is actually the only example of Russian conservative journalism turning to the genre of political satire and satirical graphics. Despite the increased attention of researchers to V. P. Meshchersky’s publishing activity, the Dobryak magazine has not been specially studied so far. The study reveals the evolution of the publishing concept of the magazine. In the first period, the author of the article points to an intensive search for new forms and a recourse to the experience of the best examples of Russian political satire of the Catherine era, as well as an abundance of satirical graphics; later on there was a gradual decrease in the number of illustrations and a shift in focus to the textual part simultaneously with a change in the general tone of the magazine, namely the transition from political polemics and satire to politically neutral fiction and illustrative graphics. The reasons for these changes were the censorship circumstances, the lack of authors and artists among the editorial staff and the special aspects of the publisher’s literary reputation. The study also analyzes the specifics of understanding the traditional motifs of the doctrine of Russian conservatism in the form of satirical graphics.

Chernikova N. V. (2001) Knyaz’ Vladimir Petrovich Meshcherskiy (k portretu russkogo konservatora) [Prince Vladimir Petrovich Meshchersky (to the Profile of a Russian Conservative)]. Rossiyskaya istoriya 4: 126–139. (In Russian)

Chernikova N. V. (2010) Meshcherskiy Vladimir Petrovich [Meshchersky Vladimir Petrovich]. In V. V. Shelokhaev (ed.) Russkiy konservatizm serediny XVIII – nachala XX veka: entsiklopediya [Russian Conservatism of the Mid-18th – Early 20th Century: an Encyclopedia]. Moscow: ROSSPEN Publ. Pp. 296–299. (In Russian)

Dronov I. E. (2001) Knyaz’ Vladimir Petrovich Meshcherskiy [Prince Vladimir Petrovich Meshchersky]. Voprosy istorii 10: 57–84. (In Russian)

Dronov I. E. (2007) Razrabotka konservativnoy kontseptsii razvitiya Rossii v tvorchestve V. P. Meshcherskogo (vtoraya polovina XIX – nachalo XX vv.): dis. ... kand. ist. nauk. [Working out the Conservative Concept of Russia’s Development in V.P. Meshchersky’s Works (the Second Half of the 19th – Early 20th Century): PhD hist. sci. diss.] Moscow. (In Russian)

Finyagina N. P. (1968) Oblichenie bor’by samoderzhaviya protiv revolyutsionnykh demokratov v russkoy karikature 60-kh godov XIX veka [Condemning the Fight of the Czarist Regime Against Revolutionary Democrats in Russian Cartoons of the 1860s]. Vestn. Mosk. un-ta. Ser. 8. Istoriya 4. (In Russian)

Golikov A. V. (2011) Problemy istochnikovedcheskogo izucheniya politicheskoy karikatury (vtoraya polovina XIX – nachalo XX v.) [Problems of Source Study of Political Cartoons (the Second Half of the 19th – Early 20th Century)]. Vestn. Mosk. un-ta. Ser. 8: Istoriya 4: 51–71. (In Russian)

Kayl’ A. V. (2010) Zhurnaly “Grazhdanin” i “Vestnik Evropy” kak otrazhenie obshchestvennoy mysli v Rossii v poreformennyy period: dis. ... kand. ist. nauk. [The Grazhdanin and Vestnik Evropy Journals as a Reflection of Social Thinking in Russia in the Post-Reform Times: PhD hist. sci. diss.] Saratov. (In Russian)

Kayl’ A. V. (2011) «Grazhdanin» knyazya V. P. Meshcherskogo [Grazhdanin Published by Prince V.P. Meshchersky]. Izvestiya Sarat. un-ta. Ser.: Istoriya. Mezhdunarodnye otnosheniya 11 (1): 8–15. (In Russian)

Koval’chenko I. D. (1987) Metody istoricheskogo issledovaniya [Methods of Historical Investigation]. Moscow. (In Russian)

Kruglikova O. S. (2016) N. P. Gilyarov-Platonov kak zhurnalist i izdatel’ [N.P. Gilyarov-Platonov as a Journalist and Publisher]. Uchenye zapiski Kazan. un- ta. Ser.: Gumanitarnye nauki 158 (4): 1015–1030. (In Russian)

Kruglikova O. S. (2018) Russkaya konservativnaya publitsistika vtoroy poloviny XIX v. [Russian Conservative Journalism of the Second Half of the 19th Century]. St. Petersburg. (In Russian)

Leonov M. M. (2009) Salon V. P. Meshherskogo: patronat i posrednichestvo v Rossii rubezha XIX–XX vv. [V.P. Meshchersky’s Salon: Patronage and Mediation in Russia at the Turn of the 20th Century]. Samara: Samara Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences Publ. (In Russian)

Nachapkin M. N. (2019) Okhranitel’ v epokhu modernizatsii: knyaz’ V. P. Meshcherskiy o posledstviyakh dlya Rossii liberal’nykh reform Aleksandra II [A Protectionist in the Era of Modernization: Prince V.P. Meshchersky About the Consequence of Alexander II’s Liberal Reforms for Russia]. Nauchnyy dialog 1: 245–256. DOI: https://doi.org/10.24224/2227-1295-2019-1-245-256 (In Russian)

To cite this article: Kruglikova O.S. (2022) Illyustrirovannyy zhurnal kn. V. P. Meshcherskogo «Dobryak» v kontekste razvitiya konservativnoy zhurnalistiki vtoroy poloviny XIX v. [The Illustrated Magazine Dobryak Published by Prince V. P. Meshchersky in the Context of Conservative Journalism Development in the Second Half of the 19th Century]. Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta. Seriya 10. Zhurnalistika 3: 132–151. DOI: 10.30547/vestnik.journ.3.2022.132151