Authors

Arianna Bettin¹;  ¹ Trinity College Dublin, Ireland

Discussion

   The monthly literary-artistic and socio-political magazine 'Знамя' has seen the first publications of some of the most eminent Soviet writers that we still read nowadays. During its existence, from 1931 to 1993, it has been reflecting literary trends through the work of those writers, who were sometimes constrained by an imposed ideology, and sometimes given concessions from the authorities to reveal social issues. 

    I am going to analyse some of the material from the March, April and May issues of 'Знамя' in regard to the current situation in Ukraine. In these issues, especially the fifth one (May 2022), poems and tales were chosen at the time when the war had just started, so my aim is to investigate how Russian contemporary and yet almost unknown writers felt, and how they portrayed their feelings about the war. I will explore their poetry and prose through a synchronic lens, considering their writing school, generational patterns and their use of literary means.   Moreover, 'Знамя' has been leaning towards a liberal orientation since Perestroika, thus, it is also of interest to see how far its poems and tales can go. For instance, this literary magazine has not been touched by the current Russian news censorship on the war with Ukraine yet, probably because nowadays circulation of 'толстые журналы' is down to a few thousand, subscriptions are falling, and the return on investment is below zero.