Peasant illustrated magazine Sibirskaya Derevnya in the Siberian press of the 1920s.
In the 1920s, massive newspapers and magazines appeared in Siberia in large numbers, the purpose of which was to promote the strengthening socialist system. Most of the magazine publications had a number of common typological features manifested in the aims and objectives of the publication, in a single thematic focus, genre features of publications, in the organisation of illustrative material. A peasant illustrated magazine Sibirskaya Derevnya [Siberian Village], published in Novonikolaevsk (Novosibirsk) during 1924 as an appendix to the newspaper Sel 'skaya Pravda [Rural Truth] was part of the Siberian press. On average, the circulation of one issue was 6 thousand copies, the magazine was sold at retail and distributed by subscription. The content of the magazine was oriented to the rural audience: the volume of the issue averaged to 30 pages, the articles written for peasants in an understandable and accessible language took no more than two pages, the issues they addressed were relevant to the peasantry: "How to Sow the Clover, and What the Good from It Is", "What Smut Is, and How to Get Rid of It", etc. The mission of the magazine was not indicated, but was clearly seen from its content presented in its permanent ("Cooperation", "Agriculture", "Science and Technology", "Laughter and Grief") and one-time ("Malaria", "Pest", etc.) sections. The leading genres were an article, an essay, a feuilleton. The magazine often published prosaic and poetic works of peasant writers and poets. The leading author of the magazine was A. Koptelov (a well-known Siberian writer in the future), who published articles on agriculture and stories. Information from abroad was not published in a special section, but appeared in separate issues in the form of articles on the best practices of American peasants and on the difficulties in organising agriculture by the peasants of Croatia. The magazine Sibirskaya Derevnya contained a significant number of drawings and photographs, which, in fact, determined the type of publication. It should be noted that the magazine had illustrations of a complex geometric form (diagonal collages for a spread, photo illustrations with a runaround). However, there are also examples of thematic inconsistency of published materials and photographs accompanying them, which destroyed the holistic perception of the creolised text. Thus, the monthly peasant illustrated magazine Sibirskaya Derevnya occupied a prominent place in the system of the Siberian press of the 1920s, its typological characteristics corresponded to the specified type of a printed periodical, it performed the functions assigned to it - it wanted to become a truly mass publication, in demand by the numerous Siberian readers.