Znamya (
RussianRussian is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages, and the largest native language in Europe...
:
"Знамя", which stands for
banner) is a
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n monthly
magazineMagazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles, generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
, which was established in
MoscowMoscow is the capital and the largest city of Russia. It is also the largest metropolitan area in Europe, and ranks among the largest urban areas in the world. Moscow is a major political, economic, cultural, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the world, a...
in 1931. In 1931-1932, the magazine was published under the name of
Lokaf ("Локаф", which was an abbreviation of "
Литературное
объединение писателей
Красной
Армии и
флота", or Literary Association of Writers of the
Red ArmyThe Red Army The Red Army The Red Army was the Soviet government’s revolutionary militia beginning in the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the USSR. Since 1946, after the Second World War, it was called the Soviet Army.The 'Red...
and
FleetThe Soviet Navy was the naval part of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy would have been instrumental in any perceived Warsaw Pact role in an all-out war with NATO when it would have to stop the naval convoys bringing reinforcements over the Atlantic to...
). During the Soviet times,
Znamya dedicated most of its pages to short stories and novels about the military, publishing works by
Konstantin SimonovKonstantin Simonov was a Russian/Soviet author. His full name was Konstantin Mikhailovich Simonov. He was a well-known war poet who wrote a popular poem called "Wait for me", about a soldier in the war asking his beloved to wait for his return. The poem was addressed to his future wife, the...
, Vasily Grossman,
Pavel AntokolskyPavel Antokolsky Павел Григорьевич Антокольский - a Russian poet, a nephew of Mark Antokolsky...
and others.
Znamya has different sections dedicated to
proseProse is the ordinary form of written language. The word "prose" is derived from the Latin prosa, which literally translates to "straightforward". Prose is adopted for the discussion of facts and topical reading, as it is often articulated in free form writing style...
,
poetryPoetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
,
essayAn essay is usually a short piece of writing. It is often written from an author's personal point of view. Essays can be literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author....
s,
literary criticismLiterary criticism is the study, discussion, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often informed by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of its methods and goals...
,
bibliographyBibliography , as a practice, is the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology...
etc. In 1972, the magazine had a circulation of some 160,000 copies.