Oktyabr
Editor-in-chiefIrina Barmetova (2001–2019)
CategoriesLiterary magazine
FrequencyMonthly
Founder
  • Alexander Bezymensky
  • Yury Libedinsky
Founded1924
Final issueJanuary 2019
Country
Based inMoscow
LanguageRussian
ISSN0132-0637
OCLC643669233

Oktyabr (Russian: Октябрь, IPA: [ɐkˈtʲabrʲ] ⓘ, "October'") was a monthly Russian literary magazine based in Moscow. It was in circulation between 1924 and 2019. In addition to Novy Mir and Znamya the monthly was a leading and deep-rooted literary magazine in Russia.[1]

History

Oktyabr was launched in 1924 by a group with the same name, "Oktyabr", which was founded by the poet Alexander Bezymensky and the novelist Yury Libedinsky in 1922.[2] It was an official organ of the Soviet Union and had a conservative political stance.[3][4] Particularly during the post-World War II period it became one of the most pro-government publications and was instrumental in shaping the image of Soviet poetry.[5]

The editorial board of the magazine in the Soviet era included those figures recognized by the state.[5] The first chief editor was Labory Kalmanson who was also known as G. Lelevich.[2] Fyodor Ivanovich served as chief editor of the monthly for two times (from 1931 to 1954, and then from 1957 to 1961).[5] Vsevolod Kochetov was the chief editor in the period 1961–1973.[6] In the same period, the monthly was a fierce critic of Nikita Khrushchev's reforms, adopting a Stalinist stance.[7] In other words, Oktyabr was among the thick journals of that period in the Soviet Union.[6] Anatoly Ananiev replaced Kochetov as chief editor of Oktyabr in 1973.[7] The last editor-in-chief was Irina Barmetova who assumed the post in 2001 and continued to edit the magazine until its closure in January 2019.[8]

The magazine awarded the Oktyabr prize.[9] The 2013 winners were Andrey Bitov for the story "Something with love... ", director Leonid Heifetz for his article "Flashes" and poet Lev Kozlowski for a selection of verses "Sukhoy Bridge".[10]

Content

Oktyabr serialized various novels, published poems and other articles about movies and societal issues. Due to such a wide coverage, the magazine was compared to the 19th century edition of Edinburgh Review.[1] In the late 1970s, Anatoly Rybakov’s novel, Heavy Sands, was serialized in the monthly.[11] Life and Fate, a novel written by Vasily Grossman, was first published in the magazine in 1988.[12][3] This novel was one of the forbidden literary works in the country and therefore, the magazine became one of the publications publishing previously forbidden books in the glasnost period.[7] In 2006, the magazine published Vasili Aksyonov's novel Moskva-kva-kva.[13] The monthly also published poems of significant and state-recognized poets in the Soviet era, forming the image of Soviet poetry, and works on literary criticism.[5]

In addition to literary works, in the 1960s the magazine covered articles on Soviet films, focusing on the merits of these movies.[14] Mikhail Antonov's seminal essay, "So What Is Happening to Us?", was published in Oktyabr in 1989.[15]

In 1989, the magazine published a posthumous work, Forever Flowing, by Vasily Grossman,[16] arguing "Lenin - all victories of the party and the state are linked with the name of Lenin. But all cruelty committed in the country has become the tragic burden of Vladimir Ilych."[3] The article was written long before, but it was one of the first overt criticisms against Lenin.[3] Thus, it marked a serious challenge process towards the past of the country, especially Lenin's legacy.[16]

References

  1. 1 2 Anna Aslanyan (8 April 2011). "Revolutions and resurrections: How has Russia's literature changed?". The Independent. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  2. 1 2 Gleb Struve (1951). Soviet Russian Literature, 1917-50. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 9780598356468.
  3. 1 2 3 4 John-Thor Dahlburg (28 June 1989). "Magazine Prints Extraordinary Attack on Lenin". Associated Press. Moscow.
  4. ↑ Rosalind J. Marsh (1986). Soviet Fiction Since Stalin: Science, Politics and Literature. Totowa, NJ: Barnes and Noble Books. p. 289. ISBN 978-0-389-20609-5.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Ekaterina Zamataeva (27 April 2013). "The Representation of Soviet Poetry in Postwar Decade in the Literary Journal "Oktyabr"" (PDF). Ellison Center. Archived from the original (Conference paper) on 4 October 2013. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  6. 1 2 Yitzhak M. Brundy (1991). "The Heralds of Opposition to Perestroyka". In Ed A. Hewett; Victor H. Winston (eds.). Milestones in Glasnost and Perestroyka: Politics and People (Volume 2). Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press. p. 153. ISBN 978-0-8157-1914-4.
  7. 1 2 3 Yitzhak M Brudny (2009). Reinventing Russia: Russian Nationalism and the Soviet State, 1953-1991. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. p. 198. ISBN 978-0-674-02896-8.
  8. ↑ "Октябрь" (in Russian). Magazines Gorky. Archived from the original on 3 March 2022. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
  9. ↑ "Read Russia events". Academica Rossica. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  10. ↑ The Oktyabr magazine the Writer Andrey Bitov will award Andrey Bitov and Leonid Heifetz Ru paper. 25 December 2013. Retrieved 31 December 2013.
  11. ↑ Ilya Levin (October 1979). "Soviet Writing". Commentary.
  12. ↑ Bill Keller (28 January 1988). "Notes on the Soviet Union". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  13. ↑ "Vasili Aksyonov". IMDb. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  14. ↑ Benjamin Pinkus; Jonathan Frankel (1984). The Soviet Government and the Jews 1948-1967. Cambridge: CUP Archive. p. 113. ISBN 978-0521090469. GGKEY:025L2PAP9T5.
  15. ↑ Leon Aron (20 June 2011). "Everything you think you know about the collapse of the Soviet Union is wrong". American Enterprise Institute. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  16. 1 2 Geoffrey A. Hosking (1991). The Awakening of the Soviet Union. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. p. 143. ISBN 978-0-674-05551-3.
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