DOCSLIB.ORG

Russian Readers and Writers in the 21St Century

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Russian Readers and Writers in the 21St Century Russian Readers and Writers in the Twenty-first Century: the Internet as a Meeting Point A thesis submitted to the University of Manchester for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Humanities 2012 Elisa Coati School of Languages, Linguistics and Cultures Table of Contents List of Pictures ............................................................................................................. 4 Note on translation and transliteration ......................................................................... 4 Abstract ........................................................................................................................ 5 Declaration ................................................................................................................... 6 Copyright Statement ..................................................................................................... 6 Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................... 7 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 8 1 - Peculiarities of Russian literary culture .............................................................. 9 1.1 The role of literature and of the literary author ............................................... 9 1.2 The role of literature in the Soviet period ..................................................... 10 1.3 The role of readers ........................................................................................ 12 1.4 Unofficial subcultures: samizdat ................................................................... 13 1.5 The Post-Soviet era ....................................................................................... 14 2- Background ....................................................................................................... 16 2.1 The death of the book ................................................................................... 16 2.2 Online communication and literary culture .................................................. 17 2.3 The RuNet ..................................................................................................... 18 3 - Aims and objectives .......................................................................................... 21 4 - Theory and Methodology .................................................................................. 23 5 - Chapters outline ................................................................................................ 25 Chapter 1 - Background and Methodology ................................................................ 27 1 - Technology and cultural evolution .................................................................... 27 1.1 Writing as a technology ................................................................................ 28 1.2 Technology kills the book? ........................................................................... 29 2 - Technology and revolution............................................................................... 34 3 - Characteristics of digital literary culture ........................................................... 37 4 - Internet culture, culture on the Internet ............................................................. 40 4.1 Internet and communication: the virtual coffeehouse ................................... 40 4.2 The era of Web 2.0........................................................................................ 43 4.3 A global Net? ................................................................................................ 46 5 - Methodology .................................................................................................... 51 6 - Ethical issues ..................................................................................................... 55 Chapter 2 - The Russian Context: Literature after 1991 and the Rise of the RuNet .. 59 1 - Post-Soviet literary culture ................................................................................ 60 1.1 - The transition: reading materials ................................................................ 61 1.2 - The literary market: publishing and distribution ........................................ 66 1.3 - Contemporary Russian literature ................................................................ 68 1.4 - The end of (high) literature ......................................................................... 70 2 - Mass media and the Internet in Russia .............................................................. 74 2.1 - The rise of the RuNet: elites and peripheries ............................................. 75 2.2 - Post-Soviet Russian media: television, the internet and power .................. 79 2.3 - Internet and cultural adaptation .................................................................. 84 3 - Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 89 2 Chapter 3 - The Russian Literary Internet .................................................................. 91 1 - The Internet as an archive of traditional materials: libraries and journals ........ 93 2 - The development of the Russian literary Internet ........................................... 100 2.1 - Literary portals ......................................................................................... 103 2.2 - Literary prizes go online ........................................................................... 110 3 - Online self-publication: s amizdat of the twenty-first century ......................... 112 3.1 - Everyday writing: graphomania and blogs ............................................... 119 4 - The Internet and publishing in Russia ............................................................. 122 5 - Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 129 Chapter 4 - Boris Akunin: Historical Research and Online Communication .......... 132 1 - Boris Akunin ................................................................................................... 133 2 - Akunin’s presence online and the websites chosen for this project ................ 139 2.1 Akunin.ru : the official website .................................................................... 140 2.2 Fandorin! : the readers’ initiative ................................................................ 144 2.3 The Fandorin! Forum ................................................................................. 149 3 - Readers and the author: the forum as a meeting point ................................... 150 4 - In Fandorin’s museum and ‘Around Fandorin’s places’: a case study of space and time ................................................................................................................ 154 5 – Kvest , the ‘universal book’ ............................................................................. 164 6 - Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 172 Chapter 5 - Viktor Pelevin and his readers .............................................................. 175 1 - Pelevin and his work ....................................................................................... 176 1.1 - Pelevin the author ..................................................................................... 176 1.2 - Pelevin as a public figure .......................................................................... 181 2 - Pelevin and the virtual world .......................................................................... 182 2.1 - Pelevin and online communication........................................................... 183 2.2 - Pelevin’s official website ......................................................................... 187 3 - The fan’s initiative: collective creation of contents ........................................ 190 3.1 Pelevin.nov.ru ............................................................................................. 191 3.2 - Viktor Olegovich™ ................................................................................... 195 3.3 - The forum ................................................................................................. 198 4 - Online distribution and reading habits: ‘Buy and read books!’ ...................... 204 5 – Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 211 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 215 1 - Readers on the RuNet: new habits and traditions ........................................... 216 2 - Readers and writers: virtual meetings and new roles ...................................... 218 3 - The status of literature ..................................................................................... 220 4 - The materiality of the book and distribution issues ........................................ 221 5 - Tradition and innovation on the literary RuNet .............................................. 222 6 - Russian traits of a global phenomenon ........................................................... 224 7 - Contribution to knowledge .............................................................................. 226 References ...............................................................................................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Russia Intelligence
    N°70 - January 31 2008 Published every two weeks / International Edition CONTENTS SPOTLIGHT P. 1-3 Politics & Government c Medvedev’s Last Battle Before Kremlin Debut SPOTLIGHT c Medvedev’s Last Battle The arrest of Semyon Mogilevich in Moscow on Jan. 23 is a considerable development on Russia’s cur- Before Kremlin Debut rent political landscape. His profile is altogether singular: linked to a crime gang known as “solntsevo” and PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS sought in the United States for money-laundering and fraud, Mogilevich lived an apparently peaceful exis- c Final Stretch for tence in Moscow in the renowned Rublyovka road residential neighborhood in which government figures « Operation Succession » and businessmen rub shoulders. In truth, however, he was involved in at least two types of business. One c Kirillov, Shestakov, was the sale of perfume and cosmetic goods through the firm Arbat Prestige, whose manager and leading Potekhin: the New St. “official” shareholder is Vladimir Nekrasov who was arrested at the same time as Mogilevich as the two left Petersburg Crew in Moscow a restaurant at which they had lunched. The charge that led to their incarceration was evading taxes worth DIPLOMACY around 1.5 million euros and involving companies linked to Arbat Prestige. c Balkans : Putin’s Gets His Revenge The other business to which Mogilevich’s name has been linked since at least 2003 concerns trading in P. 4-7 Business & Networks gas. As Russia Intelligence regularly reported in previous issues, Mogilevich was reportedly the driving force behind the creation of two commercial entities that played a leading role in gas relations between Russia, BEHIND THE SCENE Turkmenistan and Ukraine: EuralTransGaz first and then RosUkrEnergo later.
    [Show full text]
  • SCRSS Digest, Spring 2006
    Information Digest Spring 2006 Price £1.00 post-war town plans for similar plans of the Contents reconstruction of cities in the USSR. The group’s first major event was in March 1948 when an Exhibition of SCR Architects and Planners Group 1945–1991 1 the Architecture of the USSR was opened at the Royal SCRSS News 2 Institute of British Architects (RIBA) by the Soviet Soviet Memorial Trust Fund News 3 Ambassador and the President of the RIBA, Sir Obituary: Terry Wade (1930–2005) 3 Lancelot Keay. 4,000 people attended the exhibition Book and DVD Reviews 4 over 17 days. The group continued to organise visits Gems from the SCRSS Library 5 to the USSR and host groups of Soviet architects and From the Russian Press 6 planners in the UK until the 1960s, when its records cease. Listings 7 In October 1985 Professor Arthur Ling wrote to the Society, saying that he felt a renewal of friendly Feature relations on both sides would be helpful. Perestroika had led to a reassessment of architecture and planning in the USSR, taking on environmental, SCR Architects and Planners conservation and national concerns. Architects were looking to exchange ideas with Western architects Group 1945 – 1991 and institutions. Therefore the time was ripe for the By Jean Turner, Honorary Secretary of the SCR to re-establish its architectural section and SCRSS encourage exchanges. Since its establishment in 1924, the SCRSS has While Dr Catherine Cooke arranged exhibitions of shown a constant interest in the architecture and student work from the Moscow Architectural Institute planning of the USSR and Russia.
    [Show full text]
  • CONFLICTS to COME | 15 SCENARIOS for 2030 European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS)
    CHAILLOT PAPER / PAPER CHAILLOT 161 CONFLICTS TO COME 15 scenarios for 2030 CONFLICTS TO COME COME TO CONFLICTS Edited by Florence Gaub With contributions from Natasha E. Bajema, Lotje Boswinkel, Daniel Fiott, | Franz-Stefan Gady, Zoe Stanley-Lockman, Kathleen 15 SCENARIOS FOR 2030 J. McInnis, Nicolas Minvielle, Andrew Monaghan, Katariina Mustasilta, Ali Fathollah-Nejad, Patryk Pawlak, Tobias Pietz, Sinikukka Saari, Stanislav Secrieru, Simona R. Soare, Bruno Tertrais and Olivier Wathelet CHAILLOT PAPER / 161 December 2020 European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS) 100, avenue de Suffren 75015 Paris http://www.iss.europa.eu Director: Gustav Lindstrom © EU Institute for Security Studies, 2020. Reproduction is authorised, provided the source is acknowledged, save where otherwise stated. The views expressed in this publication are solely those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union. print ISBN 978-92-9198-973-7 online ISBN 978-92-9198-972-0 CATALOGUE NUMBER QN-AA-20-005-EN-C CATALOGUE NUMBER QN-AA-20-005-EN-N ISSN 1017-7566 ISSN 1683-4917 DOI 10.2815/101723 DOI 10.2815/966219 Published by the EU Institute for Security Studies and printed in Belgium by Bietlot. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2020. Cover image credit: Daniel Cheung/unsplash CONFLICTS TO COME 15 scenarios for 2030 Edited by Florence Gaub With contributions from Natasha E. Bajema, Lotje Boswinkel, Daniel Fiott, Franz-Stefan Gady, Zoe Stanley-Lockman, Kathleen J. McInnis, Nicolas Minvielle, Andrew Monaghan, Katariina Mustasilta, Ali Fathollah-Nejad, Patryk Pawlak, Tobias Pietz, Sinikukka Saari, Stanislav Secrieru, Simona R. Soare, Bruno Tertrais and Olivier Wathelet CHAILLOT PAPER / 161 December 2020 The editor Florence Gaub is the Deputy Director of the EUISS.
    [Show full text]
  • He Lover of Death: an Erast Fandorin Mystery Free
    FREE HE LOVER OF DEATH: AN ERAST FANDORIN MYSTERY PDF Boris Akunin | 336 pages | 27 Oct 2011 | Orion Publishing Co | 9780753828069 | English | London, United Kingdom He Lover of Death by Boris Akunin Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Other editions. Enlarge cover. Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Details if other :. Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. Boris Akunin. Get A Copy. Hardcoverpages. More Details Original Title. Other Editions Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. Lists with This Book. Community Reviews. Showing Average rating 4. Rating details. More filters. Sort order. Lady Death is very alluring to all that cross her path, her monika giving a tell to what happens to all that do. A very worthy addition to the Erast Fandorin series which gets better with every read, onwards I go 4. Well, that was tremendous fun! Dickensian villains, fascinating historical detail, an exciting plot and a wonderfully tongue-in-cheek but slightly macabre sense of humour made this an absolute delight to read. Just what the doctor ordered! View 2 comments. This and 'He Lover of Death' are two intertwined novels, as can be guessed from the names. While the two mysteries are separate, they happen at roughly the same time. When Fandorin disappears from one book for a few days, he's busy on the other case - while the other cast continue of their separate paths.
    [Show full text]
  • A Glance at Moscow
    A GLANCE AT MOSCOW RUPS FIELD TRIP REPORT / 23-27 MARCH 2015 LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS AND POLITICAL SCIENCE The report “A Glance at Moscow” contains the record of views and impressions on the city of Moscow in Russia. These impressions were constructed from a field study conducted between the 23th and 27th March 2015 by students of MSc in Regional & Urban Planning Studies. The MSc Regional & Urban Planning Studies is a strongly focused and internationally based planning programme that has a long tradition in training both people seeking careers in urban and regional planning policy and mid-career professionals. Founded in 1966 by the departments of Economics, Geography and Government, the programme (now housed solely in the department of Geography & Environment) continues a strong interdisciplinary focus challenging students to understand cities and regions from an economic, social and environmental perspective. http://www.lse.ac.uk Facebook: LSE Regional and Urban Planning Studies We thank The Higher School of Economics, to Yuriy Milevskiy, Oleg Baevskiy, Petr Ivanov, Maria Sapharova, Michael Blinkin, Alexei Novikov, the Strelka Institute, to Kuba Snopeck and Mila Ilyu shina, the Moscow Chief Architect Sergei Kuznetsov and colleagues, to Irina Kuznetsova and all those who hosted and collaborated in the visits and workshops. Special thanks to Elena Kuskova, Flavien Menu, Alan Mace, Nancy Holman and all the members of the Planning Society. 2 A GLANCE AT MOSCOW A GLANCE AT MOSCOW 3 4 A GLANCE AT MOSCOW A GLANCE AT MOSCOW 5 CONTENTS Introduction
    [Show full text]
  • The Reading Group Collection
    The Reading Group Collection We now have a number of sets that consist of large print copies. These sets have ”LP COLLECTION” next to them. A number of the titles are considered “cross over” novels (popular with both teenagers and adults). These sets have “TEEN” next to them. Any of the sets can be used by any Reading Group that is registered with Monmouthshire Library Service. Abdolah, Kader. The House of the Mosque Welcome to the house of the mosque...Iran, 1950. Spring has arrived, and as the women prepare the festivities, Sadiq waits for a suitor to knock on the door. Her uncle Nosrat returns from Tehran with a glamorous woman, while on the rooftop, Shahbal longs only for a television to watch the first moon landing. But not even the beloved grandmothers can foresee what will happen in the days and months to come. In this uplifting bestseller, Kader Abdolah charts the triumphs and tragedies of a family on the brink of revolution. Akunin, Boris. Turkish Gambit The Russo-Turkish war is at a critical juncture, and Erast Fandorin, broken-hearted and disillusioned, has gone to the front in an attempt to forget his sorrows. But Fandorin's efforts to steer clear of trouble are thwarted when he comes to the aid of Varvara Suvorova - a 'progressive' Russian woman trying to make her way to the Russian headquarters to join her fiancé. Within days, Varvara's fiancé has been accused of treason, a Turkish victory looms on the horizon, and there are rumours of a Turkish spy hiding within their own camp.
    [Show full text]
  • Rex Stout Does Not Belong in Russia: Exporting the Detective Novel
    Wesleyan University The Honors College Rex Stout Does Not Belong in Russia: Exporting the Detective Novel by Molly Jane Levine Zuckerman Class of 2016 A thesis submitted to the faculty of Wesleyan University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts with Departmental Honors in the Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies Program Middletown, Connecticut April, 2016 Foreword While browsing through a stack of Russian and American novels in translation on a table on Arbat Street in Moscow in 2013, I came across a Russian copy of one of my favorite books, And Be a Villain, by one of my favorite authors, Rex Stout. I only knew about this author because my father had lent me a copy of And Be a Villain when I was in middle school, and I was so entranced by the novel that I went out to Barnes & Noble to buy as many as they had in stock. I quickly ran out of Stout books to read, because at the time, his books were out of print in America. I managed to get hold of most copies by high school, courtesy of a family friend’s mother who had died and passed on her collection of Stout novels to our family. Due to the relative difficulty I had had in acquiring these books in America, I was surprised to find one lying on a book stand in Moscow, so I bought it for less than 30 cents (which was probably around the original price of its first printing in America).
    [Show full text]
  • Get PDF < Special Assignments: the Further Adventures of Erast Fandorin
    HCN9TUK8K4AG » Kindle » Special Assignments: The Further Adventures of Erast Fandorin Read Kindle SPECIAL ASSIGNMENTS: THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF ERAST FANDORIN Weidenfeld & Nicolson, UK. Softcover. Book Condition: New. First Edition. Available Now. Book Description: Two new adventures for Boris Akunin's well-loved, inimitable hero in which Erast Fandorin faces two very different adversaries: one, a deft, comedic swindler and master of disguise, whose machinations send ripples spreading through the carefully maintained calm of Moscow in 1886, and the other a brutal serial killer, driven by an insane, maniacal obsession, who strikes terror into the heart of the Moscow slums in 1889... Download PDF Special Assignments: The Further Adventures of Erast Fandorin Authored by Akunin, Boris Released at - Filesize: 3.22 MB Reviews This ebook is worth purchasing. It is writter in straightforward words and not hard to understand. You will not feel monotony at at any time of your respective time (that's what catalogs are for about in the event you ask me). -- Eileen K ling I Complete guideline for pdf fanatics. I could possibly comprehended everything out of this created e pdf. You can expect to like just how the writer compose this pdf. -- Nya K unde TERMS | DMCA LF0QXONYGGIP » Doc » Special Assignments: The Further Adventures of Erast Fandorin Related Books Edge] the collection stacks of children's literature: Chunhyang Qiuyun 1.2 --- Children's Literature 2004(Chinese Edition) The Belated Baby Healing Yourself after the Long Journey of Infertility by Jill S Browning and Kelly James Enger 2008 Paperback Genuine book Oriental fertile new version of the famous primary school enrollment program: the intellectual development of pre-school Jiang(Chinese Edition) Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Objective (Jason Bourne Novels) Books for Kindergarteners: 2016 Children's Books (Bedtime Stories for Kids) (Free Animal Coloring Pictures for Kids).
    [Show full text]
  • Boris Akunin and the Rise of the Russian Detective Genre
    Olga Sobolev Boris Akunin and the Rise of the Russian Detective Genre There are very few people in Russia who have not read at least one of Boris Akunin’s nine Adventures of Erast Fandorin, do not have a cou- ple of them lying on a coffee table or who are unable to discuss ‘Erast’ at social events. Akunin’s detective novels have thousands of admirers all over Russia, and recently Fandorin has reached an even wider audi- ence, with ORT1 producing a television version of the first book in the series, Azazel′ (first published in 1988).2 Not surprisingly, then, critics refer to ‘Erastomania’.3 However, popularity and critical recognition are often mutually exclusive, and the opinion of Russian scholars is far from being unanimous. On the one hand, the virtues of Akunin’s work were acknowledged when his Coronation (published in 1999) won the 2000 Anti-Booker Prize; on the other, this award gave rise to numerous ob- jections, which can be briefly summarized in the question: why should a literary prize be awarded to a bestseller?4 Putting aside the tricky concept of ‘worthy’ literature, which causes much of the controversy surrounding Russian literary prizes,5 one might focus on the notion that awards such as the Anti-Booker (and, arguably, the Booker) attempt to identify the predominant and typical trends in contemporary literary life. Prizes are, therefore, often awarded to works embodying, or providing paradigms, of these trends, and it is against the background of such a generic notion that Akunin’s work can best be discussed.
    [Show full text]
  • Boris Akunin the Winter Queen Pdf
    Boris akunin the winter queen pdf Continue BORIS AKUNIN - pseudonym Grigory Chkhartishvili, who was born in the Republic of Georgia in 1956; he is a philologist, critic, essayist and Translator of Japanese. He published his first detectives in 1998 and in a very short time became one of the most read authors in Russia. To date, he has written nine novels by Erast Fandorin, as well as working on two other series. Akunin enjoys almost legendary popularity in Russia. He lives in Moscow.ANDREW BROMFIELD was born in Hull, England. For a long time he lived in Moscow, where he was a co-founder and editor of the literary magazine Glas, and now lives and works in the countryside of Surrey. He is best known for his well-known translations of Victor Pelevin's short stories and novels, including On the Life of Insects, The Little Finger of the Buddha, and Homo zasien. Winter queen Recent Russian editionAutoorBoris AkuninOriginal title (Azasel')TranslatorAdru BromfieldCountryRussiaGaRussiaRussiaRaceeras FandorinGenerIstorist DetectiveOublichersharov (Russia) Weidenfeld and Nicholson (UK) Random House (USA) Publication date1998Media ) Paperback), free online textPages222 pp (HB)ISBN5-8159-0494-5 (Russian HB)OCLC64556503After the Turkish gambit Winter queen (Russian: the queen, Azazel) is the first novel in a series of historical detective novels by Erast Fandorin, written by Russian author Boris Akunin. It was the subtitle of The Mystery of the Conspiracy. The story summary of the Novel opens on May 13, 1876 by university student Peter Kokorin, committing suicide in a public park in front of a beautiful young noblewoman Elizabeth von Evert-Kolokoltseva.
    [Show full text]
  • Pelagia and the Red Rooster by Boris Akunin
    Read and Download Ebook Pelagia and the Red Rooster... Pelagia and the Red Rooster Boris Akunin PDF File: Pelagia and the Red Rooster... 1 Read and Download Ebook Pelagia and the Red Rooster... Pelagia and the Red Rooster Boris Akunin Pelagia and the Red Rooster Boris Akunin The ship carrying the devout to Jerusalem has run into rough waters. Onboard is Manuila, controversial leader of the “Foundlings,” a sect that worships him as the Messiah. But soon the polarizing leader is no longer a passenger or a prophet but a corpse, beaten to death by someone almost supernaturally strong. But not everything is as it seems, and someone else sailing has become enmeshed in the mystery: the seemingly slow but actually astute sleuth Sister Pelagia. Her investigation of the crime will take her deep into the most dangerous areas of the Middle East and Russia, running from one-eyed criminals and after such unlikely animals as a red cockerel that may be more than a red herring. To her shock, she will emerge with not just the culprit in a murder case but a clue to the earth’s greatest secret. Sister Pelagia and the Red Cockerel features its beloved heroine’s most exciting and explosive inquiry yet, one that just might shake the foundations of her faith. Pelagia and the Red Rooster Details Date : Published 2009 by Phoenix (first published 2000) ISBN : 9780753826164 Author : Boris Akunin Format : Paperback Genre : Historical, Cultural, Russia, Literature, Russian Literature, Mystery Download Pelagia and the Red Rooster ...pdf Read Online Pelagia and the Red Rooster ...pdf Download and Read Free Online Pelagia and the Red Rooster Boris Akunin PDF File: Pelagia and the Red Rooster..
    [Show full text]
  • And Post-Soviet Literature and Culture
    University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations 2017 Russia Eternal: Recalling The Imperial Era In Late- And Post-Soviet Literature And Culture Pavel Khazanov University of Pennsylvania, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations Part of the Eastern European Studies Commons, English Language and Literature Commons, European History Commons, and the European Languages and Societies Commons Recommended Citation Khazanov, Pavel, "Russia Eternal: Recalling The Imperial Era In Late- And Post-Soviet Literature And Culture" (2017). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 2894. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/2894 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/2894 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Russia Eternal: Recalling The Imperial Era In Late- And Post-Soviet Literature And Culture Abstract The return of Tsarist buildings, narratives and symbols has been a prominent facet of social life in post- Soviet Russia. My dissertation aims to explain this phenomenon and its meaning by tracking contemporary Russia’s cultural memory of the Imperial era. By close-reading both popular and influential cultural texts, as well as analyzing their conditions of production and reception, I show how three generations of Russian cultural elites from the 1950s until today have used Russia’s past to fight present- day political battles, and outline how the cultural memory of the Imperial epoch continues to inform post- Soviet Russian leaders and their mainstream detractors. Chapters One and Two situate the origin of Russian culture’s current engagement with the pre-Revolutionary era in the social dynamic following Stalin’s death in 1953.
    [Show full text]