The raznochintsy theme in the polemics of democratic journals of 1863-1864: “Sovremennik” and “Russkoe slovo”

The research aims to identify the direction of the “raznochintsy” (non-noble intelligentsia) theme, which largely determined the stylistic discourse of the conflict between the journals “Sovremennik” (The Contemporary) and “Russkoe slovo” (The Russian Word) in 1863-1864, and to substantiate the ideological function of this theme in the polemics over the journals’ programmatic issues. The research examines the features of the internal editorial vector of the theme in “Sovremennik” during the second half of the 1850s in terms of the formation of the “raznochintsy” narrative, which later received external development in the conflict between the journals. The article reveals the leading role of M. Ye. Saltykov-Shchedrin in modifying this narrative and in the methods of polemical sharpening of the theme in relation to the pressing social and literary issues of the 1860s. The main aspects of the journals’ conflict, reflected in feuilletons, pamphlets, and articles from both sides, are analyzed. The novelty of the research is determined by the chosen angle of studying the polemics: the ideological confrontation between the journals is considered through the lens of the socio-psychological “raznochintsy” narrative. The research established that at this new stage, the “raznochintsy” theme, while retaining its semantic constants, underwent significant modification due to a change in its functional direction: the socio-psychological vector is replaced by an ideological and worldview one, reflecting the programmatic divergence of the two democratic journals.