Slavic and East European Studies Collection at IU

The illustrated weeklies open a wide window on Russian cultural, social, and political life. Their editors traced the sweep of the Russian imagination at the apogee of Russian cultural power from the peak years of Dostoevsky and Tolstoy to the modernist era and the chaos of 1917. They captured imperial expansion, cultural innovation, high fashion, graphic arts, performing arts, grand funerals and anniversaries, occasions of state, wonders of science, and domestic and foreign politics. In addition, the weeklies inscribed the changing image of Russia’s great cities, its landscapes, and its multinational citizenry, together with literary life and a visual and verbal chronicle of all and sundry occasions and events.

The Current Digest of the Russian Press (originally the Current Digest of the Post-Soviet Press) was founded in 1949. Each week it presents a selection of Russian-language press materials, carefully translated into English. The translations are intended for use in teaching and research. They are therefore presented as documentary materials without elaboration or comment, and state the opinions and views of the original authors, not of the publisher of the journal.

Among the longest-running Russian newspapers, Izvestiia was founded in March 1917 and remained the official organ of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR until its collapse in 1991. Covering the politics, society, and culture, it is an extremely important primary source for any research on the Soviet Union. The full text is searchable and you may browse images of the issues in the original format.

Pravda was launched by Lenin; it survived, usually under different titles, the repeated suspensions by the tsarist government before it became the organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Many important Bolshevik leaders (including Stalin) worked with the newspaper. It voiced the views of the leadership of the Soviet Union. 

The newspaper Za vozvrashchenie na Rodinu (Return to Motherland) was established in April 1955 in East Berlin as a biweekly publication. The newspaper was published by the Soviet Repatriation Committee, which was also established in 1955 and stayed active until 1958. The newspaper was principally aimed at Russian emigrants and was an important anti-western propaganda outlet for the USSR. The main objective of the newspaper was the creation of a favorable image of the Soviet Union and the criticism of émigré organizations in the post-war period and during the Cold War. The newspaper was published under the watchful eye of the KGB, and only the most loyal Soviet officials were allowed to work on this project. Starting with 1960: issue 04, the newspaper's name was changed to Golos Rodiny (The Voice of the Motherland).

Some of the authors and journalists whose works appeared in Gudok were the famous Soviet journalist and satirist Ilya Ilf, and the writers Mikhail Zoshchenko, Lev Slavin, Sasha Krasny, and Alexander Kabakov. At the height of its popularity in the 1970s it had a daily circulation of 700,000.

Sheds light on the production side of Soviet cinematography, as well as on the theoretical and practical concepts developed by the period’s leading directors and critics. Includes articles by leading Soviet directors (Lev Kuleshov, Sergei Eisenstein, Dziga Vertov, Aleksandr Dovzhenko, Abram Room), as well as members of the avant-garde LEF, leading authors and philologists.

The Current Digest of the Russian Press (originally the Current Digest of the Post-Soviet Press) was founded in 1949. Each week it presents a selection of Russian-language press materials, carefully translated into English. The translations are intended for use in teaching and research. They are therefore presented as documentary materials without elaboration or comment, and state the opinions and views of the original authors, not of the publisher of the journal.

The scope of chronological coverage varies from title to title, spanning from 2 to 16 years (Izvestiia). It is not only a retrospective archival database but also a current news service, incorporating the current issues almost simultaneously as the print issues come out.

Some of the authors and journalists whose works appeared in Gudok were the famous Soviet journalist and satirist Ilya Ilf, and the writers Mikhail Zoshchenko, Lev Slavin, Sasha Krasny, and Alexander Kabakov. At the height of its popularity in the 1970s it had a daily circulation of 700,000.

By the early 1990s Pravda Ukrainy had become the complete opposite of the original newspaper, having jettisoned its previous ideological commitments, and instead embracing democratic principles, independent journalism, and an unrestrained criticism of the government - stances that drove its popularity and growing circulation. Due largely to financial struggles the newspaper ceased publication in 2014.

Both Donetsk People's Republic and Lugansk People's Republic were established as independent state entities after local referendums conducted in May 2014 and organized by the separatists leaders. Although the results of the referenda have not been recognized neither by Ukraine, the EU or the United States, its direct result led to an all out war between the Ukrainian military and eastern Ukrainian pro-Russian separatists resulting in thousands of deaths from both sides. Newspapers in this database cover the period of military hostilities between the unrecognized states and the government of Ukraine (2013-2015) and contain research material for anyone studying the development of separatist movements in this part of the world.

Newspapers Included:

Boevoe znamia Donbassa
Boevoi listok Novorossii
Donetsk vechernii
Edinstvo
Nasha gazeta
Novorossiia
Vostochnyi Donbass
XXI vek
Zaria Donbassa
Zhizn' Luganska

Arcanum Digitheca contains more than 400 journals on subjects such as history, literature, art, pedagogy, law, engineering and medicine, and nearly 5 million pages of content from 262 daily and weekly newspaper titles from the past 150 years.

Provides access to all journals and articles, more than 4,370 open access e-books, and over 9,400 open access grey literature items (institutional reports, working papers, government documents, white papers, etc.). Currently, the archive’s content comes from over 1400 publishers. Indiana University Libraries’ subscription does not include full access to all e-books and grey literature, so some paywalls are expected.

Includes critical reviews of domestic and foreign film, scholarly articles on cinematic theory and history as well as the Russian culture and arts scene. Iskusstvo kino was first published under title Proletarskoe kino (1931-1932), then Sovetskoe kino (1933-1935), and finally under the present name (since 1936). Publication of Iskusstvo kino was suspended in 1942-1944, and no issues were produced. The lack of database content for this period is not a gap, but reflects the publication schedule during these challenging years.

Published continuously until 2008, Krokodil was at one time the most popular magazine for humorous stories and satire, with a circulation reaching 6.5 million copies. Krokodil lampooned religion, alcoholism, foreign political figures and events, bureaucracy, and excessive centralized control. The caricatures found in Krokodil can be studied as a gauge of the 'correct party line' of the time. During the height of the Cold War, cartoons criticizing Uncle Sam, Pentagon, Western colonialism and German militarism were common in the pages of Krokodil.

Unlike many of its contemporary counterparts that tended to attract writers and young talent from a more urban intellectual setting, Nash Sovremennik focused on writers from the Russian glubinka and remote provinces. As a result, the journal came to be associated with the so-called “village” or “provincial prose,” with some of its most important representatives being such writers as Fyodor Abramov, Viktor Astafyev, Vasily Belov, and Vasily Shukshin, among others.

Formerly published under the title Rabochii klass i sovremennyi mir (Рабочий класс и современный мир, The Working class and the Contemporary World) from 1971-1990 at the Institute of the International Labor Movement of the Academy of Sciences. 

Previously published under the titles Rabochii i iskusstvo (1929-1930), Sovetskoe iskusstvo (1931-1941), Literatura i iskusstvo (1942-1944), Sovetskoe iskusstvo (1944-1952) and Sovetskaia kul’tura (1953-1991). In the Soviet period it published critical diatribes against dissident writers Pasternak, Solzhenitsyn, Aksyonov and others, infamous articles condemning modern art exhibitions, chastising avant-guard composers and abstract painters. In modern Russia its reviews and event listings often focus on the cultural life of Moscow and regions, it is known for its topical commentaries on popular culture and politics.

he magazine covered issues dealing with economics, politics, life abroad, life in Soviet republics, women’s fashion, as well as broader issues in culture and the arts. One of its most popular features was the translations of Soviet literary works, making available in English, (and other languages) works of Russian and Soviet writers that were previously unavailable. An important communist propaganda outlet, the magazine continued its run until the collapse of the USSR in 1991.

Sheds light on the production side of Soviet cinematography, as well as on the theoretical and practical concepts developed by the period’s leading directors and critics. Includes articles by leading Soviet directors (Lev Kuleshov, Sergei Eisenstein, Dziga Vertov, Aleksandr Dovzhenko, Abram Room), as well as members of the avant-garde LEF, leading authors and philologists.

Published by the Russian Academy of Sciences, this journal covering Russian and world history was first published under the title Istorik-Marksist (Marxist Historian, 1926-1941), then Istoricheskii zhurnal (History Journal, 1937-1945) and finally under the present title (since 1945).

The illustrated weeklies open a wide window on Russian cultural, social, and political life. Their editors traced the sweep of the Russian imagination at the apogee of Russian cultural power from the peak years of Dostoevsky and Tolstoy to the modernist era and the chaos of 1917. They captured imperial expansion, cultural innovation, high fashion, graphic arts, performing arts, grand funerals and anniversaries, occasions of state, wonders of science, and domestic and foreign politics. In addition, the weeklies inscribed the changing image of Russia’s great cities, its landscapes, and its multinational citizenry, together with literary life and a visual and verbal chronicle of all and sundry occasions and events.

Founded in 1802 by the Russian historian and educator, Nikolai Karamzin, Vestnik Evropy became a major influence in the development of a European outlook in Russia. The database has been designed so researchers may work simultaneously with texts in Old (pre-revolutionary) Russian and normalized contemporary orthography with easy-to-use cross search functionality.

Includes critical reviews of domestic and foreign film, scholarly articles on cinematic theory and history as well as the Russian culture and arts scene. Iskusstvo kino was first published under title Proletarskoe kino (1931-1932), then Sovetskoe kino (1933-1935), and finally under the present name (since 1936). Publication of Iskusstvo kino was suspended in 1942-1944, and no issues were produced. The lack of database content for this period is not a gap, but reflects the publication schedule during these challenging years.

Published continuously until 2008, Krokodil was at one time the most popular magazine for humorous stories and satire, with a circulation reaching 6.5 million copies. Krokodil lampooned religion, alcoholism, foreign political figures and events, bureaucracy, and excessive centralized control. The caricatures found in Krokodil can be studied as a gauge of the 'correct party line' of the time. During the height of the Cold War, cartoons criticizing Uncle Sam, Pentagon, Western colonialism and German militarism were common in the pages of Krokodil.

Unlike many of its contemporary counterparts that tended to attract writers and young talent from a more urban intellectual setting, Nash Sovremennik focused on writers from the Russian glubinka and remote provinces. As a result, the journal came to be associated with the so-called “village” or “provincial prose,” with some of its most important representatives being such writers as Fyodor Abramov, Viktor Astafyev, Vasily Belov, and Vasily Shukshin, among others.

Throughout its history Ogonek has published original works by such Soviet cultural figures as Vladimir Mayakovsky, Isaac Babel, Ilya Ilf and Evgeny Petrov, Yevgeny Yevtushenko, the photographer Yuri Rost, and others. In 2005, issues #31-35 were not published. The lack of database content for this period does not indicate missing issues, rather it accurately reflects a period in which no issues were published due to a brief suspension due to an ownership change.

Formerly published under the title Rabochii klass i sovremennyi mir (Рабочий класс и современный мир, The Working class and the Contemporary World) from 1971-1990 at the Institute of the International Labor Movement of the Academy of Sciences. 

This Russian periodical database provides full-text access to articles of 75 Russian journals in humanities and social sciences. All major disciplines are represented, but the scope of its chronological coverage is relatively narrower than its newspaper companion, UDB-Central newspapers. One resoundingly welcoming exception is Voprosy istorii (1945- ). Together with its two predecessors, Bor'ba klassov (1931-1936) and Istoricheskii zhurnal (1937-1945), the journal is completely covered by the database in its entirety.

Previously published under the titles Rabochii i iskusstvo (1929-1930), Sovetskoe iskusstvo (1931-1941), Literatura i iskusstvo (1942-1944), Sovetskoe iskusstvo (1944-1952) and Sovetskaia kul’tura (1953-1991). In the Soviet period it published critical diatribes against dissident writers Pasternak, Solzhenitsyn, Aksyonov and others, infamous articles condemning modern art exhibitions, chastising avant-guard composers and abstract painters. In modern Russia its reviews and event listings often focus on the cultural life of Moscow and regions, it is known for its topical commentaries on popular culture and politics.

Published by the Russian Academy of Sciences, this journal covering Russian and world history was first published under the title Istorik-Marksist (Marxist Historian, 1926-1941), then Istoricheskii zhurnal (History Journal, 1937-1945) and finally under the present title (since 1945).