FEUILLETON ON THE PAGES OF THE "ODESA HERALD" ("ODESKIY VISNYK"): TO THE QUESTION ABOUT GENRE VARIETIES

The object of the article is several texts from the 1870 newspaper "Odesa Herald". The author set several tasks for herself. The first task is of a historical and theoretical nature. The studied texts are designated by their authors as feuilletons. At the same time, they are quite diverse in their nature. And not necessarily funny. Hence the question of the theory and history of the formation of the feuilleton as a genre of journalism, as well as what are it’s integral features. In the course of the study, the author of the article relied on content analysis, as well as on the typological method of research. The second task is directly related to the history of such a newspaper as "Odesa Herald". Taking into account the remark of the famous historian of Odesa Alexander Deribas who regarded the low level of this printed publication in the 1870s, the author of the article decided to find out whether "Odesa Herald" really did not play a significant role in the cultural and social life of the city, or, on the contrary, the publications in it were actual. The analyzed publications of the "Odesa Herald" are diverse in subject matter: the state of literature and the assessment of its relationship with reality (the dispute between the supporters of "pure art" and the supporters of factual art), the state of medical services in the provinces and Odesa, the state of the railway and public buildings in Odesa (in comparison with Kyiv), the oddities of the intimate life and behavior of a person in love, the rivalry of the capital and Odesa press. The texts that were studied are not similar stylistically. Some contain irony, subtext, or even satirical denunciations. Others are absolutely serious in their tone. At the same time, the author of the article concludes that each of them can be considered a feuilleton, since they are characterized by subjectivity of presentation, each resolves socially pressing problems (hence the reliance on facts), a tendency to generalizations and typification of the depicted phenomena, a free form of informal conversation with the reader.