The article is dedicated to the construction of identity in the late Russian Empire on the basis of Russian-language press in the national periphery. The author examines ethnic (national-religious) and civic (subject-imperial) identity using the example of the South Caucasian magazine “Jigit”. According to the main hypothesis, the activities of Russian language publications in the national periphery were intended to promote the development of civic identity among the inhabitants of the Russian Empire, with the Russian-language press expected to serve as a conduit for the interests of the center. An analysis of satirical articles and caricatures from the Baku magazine Jigit revealed the publication’s ineffective engagement with regional readers and its lack of specific tools to attract the attention of the South Caucasian population to the issues addressed on its pages. Despite highlighting problems common to residents of both Central Russia and the national periphery, “Jigit” failed to offer its readers a positive agenda or any programs or alternatives for addressing current political challenges. The denigration of bureaucracy and the imperial elites, along with the emphasis on the decline of morality in the country, was accompanied by an appeal to the categories of nation and faith, which ultimately reinforced the formation of national identity among the population of the late Russian Empire. In conclusion, the article suggests that the failure to construct an imperial or civic identity was also shaped by the weak involvement of regional readers in discussions of general imperial issues, the absence of a clearly articulated message in the magazine, and the neglect of the cultural specificities of the region in which it was published.
Russian Empire; South Caucasus; Azerbaijan; First World War; national consciousness; national identity; civil identity; pre-revolutionary periodicals; Russian periodicals; magazine “Jigit”.