The Emergence and Development of Women’s Magazines in Russia and Japan (second half of 18th - 19th century)

The history of development of women’s magazines is closely connected with the change of women’s status in the society. In Russia in the 18th century the reforms of social system under Peter the Great and Catherine the Great influenced the development of education and increase of literacy rate. As a result, noblewomen joined the reading as an intellectual activity. In 1779 N.I. Novikov published the first women’s magazine that marked the start of publication of books and magazines for women. In Japan, the first women’s magazine was published by hands of men in 1884 to enlighten women during the Meiji Era (1868-1912), when Japan underwent metamorphosis from the feudal society to a modern monarchy and introduced the new national system of governance, including education. The emergence of women’s magazines in Japan is also related to the increase of female readers and development of system of girl’s education as an instrument of state policy. There was difference in how the concept of “woman - dutiful wife and devoted mother” was introduced in Russian and Japanese societies, but it was adopted in both countries as dominant ideology for women’s education. It is concluded that women’s magazines from the government point of view, based on the concept “woman - dutiful wife and devoted mother”, were used to a certain extent as study guide for character education of perfect women.

Women’s Magazine, Literacy, Reading, Women Readers, Women’s Education

1. Lotman J.M. Besedy o russkoi kul’ture. Byt i traditsii russkogo dvoryanstva (XVIII — nachala XIX veka) [Talks about Russian Culture: Life and Traditions of the Russian Nobility in the 18th — the beginning of the 19th Centuries]. St. Petersburg, 2011, p. 46.

2. Mironov B.N. Sotsial’naya istoriya Rossii perioda imperii (XVIII—XX vv.: Genezis lichnosti, demokraticheskoi sem’i, grazhdanskogo obshchestva i pravovogo gosudarstva) [Russian Social History of the Empire Period (XVIII—XX centuries: The Genesis of the Personality, Democratic Family, Civil Society and Legal State)]. St. Petersburg, 2000, vol. 2, p. 386.

3. Samarin A.Yu. Chitatel’ v Rossii vo vtoroi polovine XVIII veka (po spiskam podpischikov) [Readers in Russia in the Second Half of the XVIII Century (According Lists of Subscribers)]. Moscow, Mosk. gos. un-t pechati Publ., 2000, pp. 147—157.

4. Amino E. The Revision of the Japan History. Tokyo, 2005, pp. 36—37 (in Jap.).

5. Historical Process of the Literacy — Japanese Case, Collection of Articles on International Cooperation of Hiroshima University, 2012, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 51—62 (in Jap.).

6. Maikov P.M. Ivan Ivanovich Betskoi. Opyt ego biografii [Ivan Ivanovich Betsky. The Attempt of His Biography]. St. Petersburg, 1904, 278 p.

7. V Peterburge uchrezhdeno “Vospitatel’noe obshchestvo blagorodnykh devits” (Smol’nyi institut) [“Society for Education of Noble Maidens” (Smolny Institute) established in Petersburg], Prezidentskaya biblioteka im. B.N. El’tsina [Presidential Library Named After Boris Yeltsin]. Available at: http://www.prlib.ru/History/Pages/Item.aspx?itemid=1144 (accessed 29.03.2016).

8. Ocherki russkoi kul’tury XVIII veka [The Essays of Russian Culture of XVIII century]. Moscow, 1987, part 2, p. 286.

9. 120 Years of Japanise History Education. Tokyo, Ministry of Education of Japan Publ., 1992, pp. 17—37 (in Jap.).

10. The Rise of Women’s Journals. Tokyo, Obshchestvo izucheniya istorii zhenskoi kul’tury Publ., 1989, pp. 4—7 (in Jap.).

11. Pushkareva N.L. Semeinyi byt Drevnei Rusi: otnoshenie detei i roditelei [Family Household of Ancient Russia: The Relationship of Children and Parents], Traditsii sem’i [Family Traditions]. Sverdlovsk, 1988, pp. 248—263.

12. Pushkareva N.L. Chastnaya zhizn’ russkoi zhenshchiny: nevesta, zhena, lyubovnitsa [Private Life of Russian Woman: Bride, Wife, Mistress]. Moscow, 1997, pp. 75—134.

13. Modnoe ezhemesyachnoe izdanie ili Biblioteka dlya damskogo tualeta [Fashion Monthly Edition or the Library for Ladies Toilette], Muzei rossiiskoi pechati [Museum of the Russian Press]. Available at: http://mediamuseum.guru.ru/magazines/modnoe_ezhemesechnoe_izdanie (accessed 29.03.2016).

14. Sokol’skaya L.V. Pervye zhenskie zhurnaly dlya rossiiskikh chitatel’nits [First Women’s Magazines for Russian Readers], Bibliosfera [Bibliosphere], 2006, no. 2, p. 22.

15. Sadakhira M. On the Journal “Science of Women”, Articles’ Collection of the Sociology Faculty, Kwansei Gakuin University, 1967, no. 15, pp. 97—102 (in Jap.).

16. Koyama S. Pravila dobroi zheny i umnoi materi [The Rules of Good Wife and Clever Mother]. Tokyo, Keiso Publ., 1991, p. 234 (in Jap.).