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The cult magazine of the XIX century La Dernière Mode got a second life thanks to a young publisher from Ƶ
27 July

Stepan Samoryadov, a student at the Higher School of Printing and Media Technologies of St. Petersburg State Pedagogical Institute, in collaboration with translator Valeria Trofimova, has developed a digital edition dedicated to the 19th century cult magazine La Dernière Mode (translated from French as "The Last Fashion"). The volume of the publication is 250 pages. The issue is aimed at a trained audience - philologists, literary researchers, students of humanitarian fields, readers interested in the culture of the 19th century and the history of fashion.

La Dernière Mode is a unique literary and artistic project created by the French symbolist poet Stéphane Mallarmé in 1874. Mallarmé magazine was published for only a few months in 1874 and became one of the most unusual publications of its time. Mallarmé almost single-handedly created every number. He has acted as an editor, designer, lyricist and critic. The magazine covered not only dress styles, but also theater, opera, music, dance, interior design and gastronomy. It was a full-fledged cultural gloss of the 19th century.

In academia, La Dernière Mode is considered the most important document that anticipated many ideas of postmodernism, Dadaism and surrealism. Today it is recognized by critics as a unique example of the fusion of high literature, visual art and commercial journalism.

Stepan Samoryadov developed a digital edition, which included the original texts of Stefan Mallarmé and their translation into Russian, made by a graduate of Sorbonne University Valeria Trofimova. In the domestic market, the work has no analogues, since the texts of La Dernière mode have not previously been translated into Russian.

The magazine consists of an original text in French and a translation with commentary. They reveal the artistic, historical, literary and aesthetic significance of what Mallarmé wrote.

"In our edition, the stylistic layering of the original was conveyed as accurately as possible, including the play of registers, irony, elements of parody and hidden aesthetic declarations characteristic of Mallarmé. We not only translated his texts from French into Russian, but also conducted a comprehensive study on historical reconstruction and modern rethinking. The mission of the publication is to reveal the original as a significant stage in the poet's work and a unique phenomenon of European culture, where fashion becomes the language of poetry, and poetry becomes a form of intellectual play with reality," Stepan explained.

There is a specificity of translation. Mallarmé wrote journalistic texts - informative with elements of author's reflection, so it was important to maintain a balance between dry journalism and artistic statements. The poet also used ambiguous words and pun. These techniques indicated the similarity of his style with the methods of modernists: the text can be perceived purely as a magazine about fashion, and at the same time something poetic. Therefore, the task of the translator was to preserve and, if possible, repeat semantic multilayering in Russian.

The design was based on the original illustrations of La Dernière Mode magazine, the main part of the color palette is blue, the pages are matte. This gives contrast and accurate reproduction of text and graphic elements. The reader, according to Stepan, will receive a complete visual, tactile and research impression, comparable to an appeal to a historical source. Volume - 250 pages, of which 56 are occupied by fax copies of editions of the publication.

The preservation of the legacy of Mallarmé - one of the key representatives of symbolism - according to the student, gives the publication scientific and cultural significance.