Abstract
The article attempts to determine the place and role of comics in the contemporary Russian literary process, based on their reception in the magazine Voprosy literatury. The relevance of the study stems from a gap in Russian-language scholarly discourse, which the author seeks to partially fill, as well as from the growing interest in comics both within academia and in the broader literary field. This type of research is undertaken for the first time and may serve as a foundation for further exploration of the problem.
The analysis of the reception of comics is based on 11 articles published on the journal’s official website, using historical, philological, and statistical research methods, and drawing on works by leading Russian and international scholars.
The study shows that the editorial board of Voprosy literatury maintains the traditional stance of “thick” literary magazines, emphasizing the need to preserve “high” literature. This position is confirmed by recurring claims about the secondary status of comics in comparison with literature. The magazine repeatedly stresses that comics are not an art form, but a genre, and highlights the “negative” aspects of reading them.
At the same time, some occasional materials in the Light Cavalry section focus on the usefulness of comics for literature: the potential to borrow best practices from comic authors, and the use of comic adaptations to attract the attention of teenagers.
Keywords
Comics, reception, review, Voprosy literatury, literary magazine.