From Samizdat to New Sincerity. Digital Literature on the Russian-Language Internet

Abstract

Digital literature on the Russian-language Internet includes a broad variety of phenomena, from online libraries to writers’ blogs, from hypertext to Internet memes. The chapter begins by clarifying the terms “digital literature” and “Runet, " drawing on a functional understanding of literature in the tradition of Russian Formalism. It embeds Runet literary studies into global contexts and gives an overview of essential phenomena (hypertext, fan fiction, blogging) and narratives. It analyzes local discourses, which, in turn, attempt to make sense of global communication technologies, for example, by conceptualizing digital self-publishing as samizdat, that is, the historical phenomenon of clandestine underground publication in the post-Stalin Soviet Union. The chapter concludes with an overview of research approaches and methods, both qualitative and quantitative, and of the challenges that future analysis will face.