Journal archive

Abstract: The relevance of the research lies in the exploration of the phenomenon of the “mining factory civilization” and its artistic interpretation in Russian literature of the late 19th – early 20th century. The term was introduced by the Perm scholar P. S. Bogoslovsky in the 1920s and originally referred to the Urals region. However, it is important to note that, due to accelerated modernization processes in Russia at the turn of the 20th century, there emerged new industrial regions where peculiar socio-cultural complexes formed. These regions developed their own industrial identity, often similar in appearance to the indigenous Ural one. The emergence of the topic of factories and plants in the all-Russian context was largely facilitated by publications in the capital’s periodicals, primarily in the magazine “The Russian Wealth”. Those were mostly documentary and journalistic genres: essays, articles, and notes by public figures, economists, and lawyers, and sometimes short stories. The aim of the article is to analyze the ways of representation of the industrial world of Russia at the turn of the 20th century in the context of that epoch. To achieve this aim, the authors selected practical research material from 144 issues of the magazine “The Russian Wealth” over the period 1895–1906, as well as from publications in the journal “The Russian Thought” and the newspaper “Pravda” of the same period. The article focuses on little-known works of different authors: “At the Factory” (From a Notebook) (1899) by A. S. Serafimovich, “Factory Sketches” (1903) by V. K. Izmaylov, “Sketches of Factory Life” (1905) by P. S. Timofeev (Remezov), and “On the Factory Street” (1898) by V. M. Mikheev. The texts of Ural writers such as A. S. Pogorelov and P. I. Zayakin-Uralsky serve as a natural supplement to the all-Russian context. The scientific novelty of this article lies in comparing these works and identifying the differences in the authors’ approaches to the factory themes. Whereas A. S. Serafimovich, V. K. Izmaylov, P. S. Timofeev, and V. M. Mikheev largely confine themselves to sketches of new industrial reality, Ural writers imbue the theme with a unique historical perspective, rendering “mining factory civilization” a significant phenomenon not only in the history of Russian industry but also in its literature.

About the author(s) :

Elena K. Sozina

Institute of History and Archaeology, Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences

(Ekaterinburg, Russian Federation)

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-8250-5986

Yana V. Sapsa

Ural Federal University named after the first President of Russia B. N. Yeltsin
(Ekaterinburg, Russian Federation)

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-8250-5986

Publication Timeline:

Date of receipt: 30.01.2026; date of publication: 31.03.2026

References:

Abashev, V. V. (2012). Russkaya literatura Urala. Problemy geopoetiki = Russian literature of the Urals. Problems of geopoetics. Perm, 140 p. EDN QIRUQH.

Alekseev, V. V. (Ed.). (2001). Metallurgicheskie zavody Urala XVII–XX vv. = Metallurgical plants of the Urals of the
17^th–20^thcenturies. Ekaterinburg: Akademkniga Publishing House, 536 p.

Alekseev, V. V., Gavrilov, D. V. (2008). Metallurgiya Urala s drevneyshikh vremen do nashikh dney = Metallurgy of the Urals from ancient times to the present. Moscow: Nauka Publishing House, 904 p. EDN QMZYMZ.

Bankovsky, L. V. (2010). Sad XVIII veka = Garden of the 18^th century. Solikamsk: Solikamsk State Pedagogical Institute, 169 p.

Barkovskaya, N. V. (2006). Obraz zavoda v tvorchestve P. I. Zayakina-Ural′skogo = The image of the factory in the works of P. I. Zayakin-Uralsky. Literature of the Urals: History and modernity, 274–283. Ekaterinburg.

Belov, V. D. (1896). Istoricheskiy ocherk ural′skikh gornykh zavodov = A historical sketch of the Ural mining plants. Saint Petersburg: Printing house of Isidore Goldberg, 177 p.

Blazhes, V. V., Sozina, E. K. (Eds.). Istoriya literatury Urala. Konets XIV–XVIII v. = The history of literature of the Urals. The end of the 14^th–18^th centuries. Moscow: Languages of Slavic Culture, 608 p.

Bogoslovsky, P. S. (1927). O postanovke kul′turno-istoricheskikh izucheniy Urala = On setting up cultural and historical studies of the Urals. Ural Regional Studies (issue 1), 33–37. Sverdlovsk: Ural Regional Bureau of Local Lore.

Bovykin, V. I., Gavlin, M. L., Epifanova, L. M. (2000). Istoriya predprinimatel′stva v Rossii: v 2 t. T. 2: Vtoraya polovina XIX – nachalo XX veka = The history of entrepreneurship in Russia, in 2 vols. Vol. 2: The second half of the 19^th – early 20^th century. Moscow: Russian Political Encyclopedia, 575 p.

Bugrov, K. D., Kiselev, M. A., Mashtakova, L. V. (2022). Stanovlenie opornogo kraya: Industrial′nyy Ural v mobilizatsionnoy kul′ture 1930–1940-kh gg. = The formation of the reference Region: The Industrial Urals in the mobilization Culture of the 1930s and 1940s. Ekaterinburg: Ural Federal University named after the first President of Russia B. N. Yeltsin, 304 p. EDN HTCSSQ.

Chagin, G. N. (Ed.). (2024). Goroda-zavody = Factory towns. Perm: Knizhnyy mir Publishing House, 524 p.

Ganopolsky, M. G., Markova, L. M., Fedorov, R. Yu. (2011). Tyumenskaya neftegazodobyvayushchaya tsivilizatsiya: istoriko-geograficheskiy konspekt stanovleniya = Tyumen oil and gas producing civilization: A historical and geographical synopsis of its formation. Oikumena. Regional Studies, 3(18), 115–130. EDN OYWSYR.

Gavrilov, D. V. (2005). Gornozavodskoy Ural XVII–XX vv.: Izbrannye trudy = Mining Urals of the 17^th–20^th centuries: Selected works. Ekaterinburg: Institute of History and Archeology, Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 615 p. EDN RRXGPL.

Ignatova, N. Yu., Dokuchaev, S. V. (2014). Obraz ural′skogo goroda v non-fikshn literature (na primere knigi «Nizhniy Tagil») = The image of the Ural city in non-fiction literature (on the example of the book Nizhny Tagil). Modern City: Sociality, culture, people’s lives (vol. 1), 207–210. Ekaterinburg: University of the Humanities. EDN UDYYIF.

Korepanov, N. S. (2004). K istorii napisaniya knigi V. I. Gennina = On the history of writing the book by V. I. Gennin. The Fifth Tatishchevsky Readings. Spirituality and morality in the Urals in the past and present, 285–288. Ekaterinburg: Institute of History and Archeology, Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Kozlov, I. V. (2025). Tvorchestvo P. I. Zayakina-Ural′skogo v kontekste regional′noy i obshchenatsional′noy literatur = Creativity of P. I. Zayakin-Uralsky in the context of regional and national literature. Creative personality in cultural, historical and national artistic contexts, 154–168. Ekaterinburg: Publisher T. A. Arsenova.

Novikov, I. A. (2008). Vilim de Gennin i ego rol′ v sozdanii gornozavodskoy promyshlennosti Rossii (pervaya polovina XVIII v.) = Vilim de Gennin and his role in the creation of the mining industry in Russia (the first half of the 18^th century). The World of Science, Culture, Education, 2(9), 84–87. EDN IQWTDV.

Petrova, S. I. (2024). O sootnoshenii ponyatiy «kul′tura» i «tsivilizatsiya» = On the relationship between the concepts of “culture” and “civilization”. Clio, 8(212), 196–202. DOI: 10.24412/2070-9773-2024-8-196-202. EDN ILMQLT.

Sapsa, Ya. V. (2023). «Mechushchayasya dusha»: obraz glavnogo geroya v povesti A. S. Pogorelova «Pered grozoy» = “The rushing soul”: The image of the main character in A. S. Pogorelov’s novella “Before the Thunderstorm”. XI Information school of a young scientist, 284–296. Ekaterinburg: Ural University Publishing House. DOI: 10.32460/ishmu-2023-11-0030. EDN JHXIHX.

Sapsa, Ya. V. (2025). Ural′skaya gornozavodskaya provintsiya v literature rubezha XIX–XX vv. = The Ural mining province in the literature of the turn of the 19^th–20^th centuries. Bulletin of the Tyumen State University. Humanitarian Studies. Humanitates, 11, 1(41), 71–86. DOI: 10.21684/2411-197X-2025-11-1-71-86. EDN OCAMKD.

Shipitsyna, O., Solonina, N., Bugrov, K. et al. (2021). Gornozavodskaya i ravninnofabrichnaya tsivilizatsii Rossii: industrial′noe nasledie i gorodskaya identichnost′ = Mining and lowland factory civilizations of Russia: Industrial heritage and urban identity. Urban Research and Practice, 6(1), 125–144. DOI: 10.17323/usp612021125-144. EDN JDIIYY.

Skibina, O. M. (2017). Tipologiya i poetika putevykh ocherkov belletristov kontsa XIX veka = Typology and poetics of travel essays by fiction writers of the late 19^th century. Bulletin of the V. N. Tatishchev Volga State University, 2(3), 110–119. EDN ZJSENZ.

Sozina, E. K. (Ed.). (2020). Istoriya literatury Urala. XIX vek: v 2 kn. Kn. 1 = The history of literature of the Urals. 19^th century, in 2 books. Book 1. Moscow: YaSK Publishing House, 664 p.