“Galchonok” magazine as a space for children’s creativity

Introduction. The forms of work with readers’ creativity in pre-revolutionary children’s publications were not very diverse – the children’s literary and art magazine “Galchonok” (1911–1913) became an exception in this regard, providing readers with the opportunity to participate in the magazine’s creative projects. The purpose of the study is to analyze the editorial strategy of the Galchonok journal in terms of working with children's creativity. Innovative forms and principles of organizing and activating the creative activity of readers are examined, and the features of the communicative behavior of the editorial staff are simultaneously identified.

Materials and methods. The contents of the “Mailbox” section have been analyzed. Conclusions about the creative attitudes of the editors are made on the basis of essays about art published in the magazine, articles and notes with practical creative advice. The forms of publication of readers’ works, creative competitions and joint projects, as well as editorial comments to them, are considered in detail.

Result and Discussion. Public feedback on the works sent by readers and the playful communicative behavior of the editors contributed to the formation on the pages of “Galchonok” of a crosscutting narrative dedicated to the creative activity of readers. It was extrapolated to other materials of the magazine, ensuring the interaction of fictional plots with appeals to the real activity of readers. At the same time, the organization of this activity was based not only on competitions for the best works, but also on projects in which the works of readers were given formality and conceptualization of a collective work.

Conclusion. The participation of readers in the creation of magazine materials led to the formation of a specific creative environment based on the principles of communication and play. The findings can add to the consideration of the continuity between the pre-revolutionary and Soviet stages of the development of children’s journalism in terms of interaction with the creativity of readers.

1. Golovin V.V. Detskie zhurnaly Serebryanogo veka: poetika razvlechenii [Children’s magazines of the Silver Age: the poetics of entertainment]. In: Henri-Safier E., Belobrovtseva I.Z., Bogomolov N.A. et al. Russkaya razvlekatel’naya kul’tura Serebryanogo veka. 1908–1918 [Russian entertainment culture of the Silver Age. 1908–1918]. Moscow, National Research University Higher School of Economics Publishing House, 2018, pp. 63-84. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/xnckhm

2. Rodigina N.N. The magazine “Zadushevnoe slovo” as the actor of the educational space of the Russian Empire in the second half of 19th – early 20th century. Sibirskii pedagogicheskii zhurnal = Siberian Pedagogical Journal, 2019, no. 2, pp. 73-84. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.15293/1813-4718.1902.08, https://elibrary.ru/nohzwu

3. Remezova K.V. Eve of the avant-garde practice: exhibition of children’s drawings within the 5th exhibition of the “New society of artists”. Aktual’nye problemy teorii i istorii iskusstva = Actual Problems of Theory and History of Art, 2014, no. 4, pp. 525-531. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/uhgdan

4. Fomin D.V. Rise and fall of “Galchonok” magazine. Bibliotekovedenie = Library and Information Science (Russia), 2012, no. 4, pp. 59a-67. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/pfbzcl

5. Golovin V.V. Zhurnal «Galchenok» (1911–1913) kak literaturnyi eksperiment [The magazine “Galchenok” (1911–1913) as a literary experiment]. Detskie chteniya = Children’s Readings: Studies in Children’s Literature, 2014, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 23-37. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/vfxfmd

6. Bochkareva N.S., Tabunkina I.A. The dialogue with the readers on the pages of the Perm children’s book “Olyapka” (dipper). Vestnik Permskogo universiteta. Rossiiskaya i zarubezhnaya filologiya = Perm University Herald. Russian and Foreign Philology, 2010, no. 5 (11), pp. 194-201. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/mvxtpj

7. Cherepneva L.M. The first Russian children’s magazine “Children’s reading for the heart and mind” and it’s dealing with the audience. Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta. Seriya 10: Zhurnalistika = Bulletin of Mos- cow University. Series 10: Journalism, 2020, no. 3, pp. 100-118. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.30547/vestnik.journ.3.2020.100118, https://elibrary.ru/rzrtnf

8. Blokhina Ya.A., Dubrovskaya T.V. The category of dialogueness in the entertainment genres of the soviet children’s press (on the example of “Pioneer” magazine of the 1970s – 1980s). Russian Linguistic Bulletin, 2022, no. 6 (34), art. 15. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.18454/RULB.2022.34.10, https://elibrary.ru/fmdvaz

9. Romashina E.Yu. Children’s magazine as an interactive project, or the mailbox in Mauritius Wolff’s “Zadushevnoye slovo”. Elektronnyi nauchno-obrazovatel’nyi zhurnal «Istoriya» [Electronic scientific and educational magazine “History”], 2023, vol. 14, no. 3 (125), art. 20. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.18254/S207987840025023-4, https://elibrary.ru/olthha

10. Kheizinga I. Homo ludens. Chelovek igrayushchii [Homo Ludens. Human Playing]. St. Petersburg, Ivan Limbach’s Publishing House, 2011, 409 p. (In Russ.)

11. Caillois R. Igry i lyudi [Games and People]. In: Caillois R. Igry i lyudi. Stat’i i esse po sotsiologii kul’tury [Games and People. Manuscripts and Essays on the Sociology of Culture]. Moscow, United Humanitarian Publishing House, 2007, pp. 31-204. (In Russ.)

12. Tulyakova E.I. Сhildren’s magazine of 1850s as metatext. Tekst. Kniga. Knigoizdanie = Text. Book. Publishing, 2012, no. 1 (1), pp. 27-34. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/pjaxbl

13. Marugina N.I. The discursive and thematic orientation of the children’s magazine within the period of the 18th – 20th centuries. Yazyk i kul’tura = Language and Culture, 2011, no. 2 (14), pp. 29-35. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/nuztbb

14. Feshchenko V.V. Kak vedet sebya avangard? Osobennosti pragmatiki v avangardnoi kommunikatsii [How does the avant-garde behave? Features of pragmatics in avant-garde communication]. In: Feshchenko V.V. Laboratoriya logosa: Yazykovoi eksperiment v avangardnom tvorchestve [Laboratory of Logos: Language Experiment in Avant-garde Creativity]. Moscow, Languages of Slavic Cultures Publ., 2009, pp. 111-120. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/suqihp

15. Romashina E.Yu. “Fun and use for children”: pictorial ABC’s in the Russian educational book publishing of the 19th century. Tekst. Kniga. Knigoizdanie = Text. Book. Publishing, 2017, no. 14, pp. 76-99. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.17223/23062061/14/5, https://elibrary.ru/zhjwbp