The present article examines theoretical notion of textual sense in Russian linguistics. Thus, we explore various approaches by Russian researchers to the problem of sense in a text. As a result of the theoretical review we can conclude the following: sense content is realized at the levels of pragmatics, evaluation and judgement. At the same time the degree of comprehension of a text and extraction of its sense depends on a recipient’s preparedness to apprehend this very text, their background knowledge and personal attitude towards the situation described in the text.