Russian voice in “own” abroad

Abstract

The Russian-language press in Finland became noticeably more active in March 1917, after the February Revolution. The emerged newspapers and magazines, being often publications of local departments of various parties, reflected as a rule their political aspirations. The proclamation of Finland’s independence in December 1917 intensified the nationalist movement in the country and sharp increase of Russophobia, which were reflected in the pages of the Russian-language press. In the article is considered the newspaper “Voice of the Russian Colony” (1918), which was published in Helsingfors by university professor, writer Konstantin Arabazhin. The problems and structure of the newspaper as a whole, as well as the themes and genre originality of a number of journalistic texts in particular, are characterized. The editorial office of the newspaper positioned itself as an organ of independent non-partisan thought; directed its efforts to unite all layers of the Russian population of Helsingfors on the basis of national cultural values; expressed confidence that she would be able to correctly reflect the interests of her compatriots in Finland and thus become the voice of the Russian colony in the broadest sense of the word. The article describes in detail the materials of the first issue of the newspaper “Voice of the Russian Colony”. As follows from the analysis, the constituent components of the newspaper are thematically interconnected, and their arrangement in a certain sequence makes it possible to read the issue as a single text, aimed to convince the Russian-speaking reader of the significance and usefulness of the new periodical.