“Iskra” versus “Vremya”: controversy over “soil”

“Soil” (“pochva”) as a metaphorical name for the political and literary direction of the “Vremya” (“Time”) and “Epokha” (“Epoch”) journals was the subject of newspaper and journal polemics in many periodicals in the 1860s, including the satirical and humorous press. One of the implacable opponents of the Dostoevsky brothers' magazines was the weekly “Iskra“ (“Spark”) (1859-1873), whose publications are considered in this study. In the fight against opponents, the authors of “Iskra” used the possibilities offered by satirical genres: they published caricatures, cartoons, parodies, satires, pamphlets, feuilletons, jokes on literary topics, fantastic scenes and dramatic fantasies. A feature of the controversy was the sharp criticism of the political and literary program of the Dostoevsky brothers’ magazines and their direction. The periodicals' hostility was mutual. F. M. Dostoevsky called Iskra “Firebrand” on two occasions and created a negative image of an employee of the satirical magazine in the story “A Bad Joke.” In response to criticism, the Dostoevsky brothers calmly explained the “soil” ideas, notions and concepts of their journals.