controversy

The article describes the main conditions and trends in the development of periodicals of the turn of the 1850–1860s, in particular the newspapers and magazines of business. Special attention is paid to the position of I. V. Vernadsky’s magazine Economicheskiy Ukazatel’ (Economic Guide) in relation to the peasant question.

The poem by Okudzhava is comprehended against the background of a number of texts published during the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Patriotic War. Okudzhava’s unique stand in the situation of the historic celebration is determined, the controversy with Levitansky’s poem The Little Man is traced. It is shown how Andersen’s formula of the ‘persistent tin soldier’ is transformed in Okudzhava’s point of view. The views of Okudzhava and Samoilov on literature about the war are compared.