Arina Vitalievna Yasudis,
Postgraduate Student, Novosibirsk State Pedagogical University, Novosibirsk, Russia, e‑mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Representations of the First World War in Women’s Illustrated Magazines of the Russian Empire
DOI: 10.31518/2618-9100-2023-2-18
The article deals with peculiar features of the First World War representation in women’s illustrated magazines: “Zhenschina” (“The Woman”), “Zhurnal dlya Khozyaek” (“The Magazine for Housewives”), “Zhenskiy mir” (“Ladies’ World”), “Zhenskoe delo” (“Women’s Stuff”). The events of the war made great changes in all spheres of social life and completely transformed Russian women’s lives. A variety of publications related to the First World War were presented in women’s magazines. They covered topics and problems relevant to the readers. According to the author’s research, the most popular issues studied in the publications are a change in women’s gender role during the war, war and children, prisoners of war, help to the front, the work of the Red Cross, disabled soldiers, heroes of the front. Patriarchal values have gone to the background, the requirements for women’s fields of work, limited to housekeeping in the pre-war years, are changing. In the analyzed magazines, the author defines the following wartime woman images: a woman volunteer, a patriot woman, a sister of mercy, a female doctor, a heroine, a housewife, a mother, a female worker. The topic “War and children” is highlighted. Women’s illustrated magazines sent out a message of saving the childhood and keeping children away from military entanglements. The subject area of materials published during the war corresponded to the female readers’ range of interests. The magazines “Zhenschina” (“The Woman”), “Zhurnal dlya Khozyaek” (“The Magazine for Housewives”), “Zhenskiy mir” (“Ladies’ World”), “Zhenskoe delo” (“Women’s Stuff”) formed a citizenship and patriotic sentiments among the female audience.
Publishing: 28/02/2023
The article has been received by the editor on 12.01.2023
How to cite: Yasudis A.V. Representations of the First World War in Women’s Illustrated Magazines of the Russian Empire // Historical Courier, 2023, No. 2 (28), pp. 224–234. [Available online: http://istkurier.ru/data/2023/ISTKURIER-2023-2-18.pdf]
Links: Issue 2 2023
Keywords: World War I; periodicals; women’s magazines; gender roles; wartime woman image; “The Woman”; “The Magazine for Housewives”; “Lady’s World”; “Women’s Stuff”; “Zhenschina”; “Zhurnal dlya Khozyaek”; “Zhenskiy mir”; “Zhenskoe delo”; heroism