1st Edition
Digital Russia The Language, Culture and Politics of New Media Communication
Digital Russia provides a comprehensive analysis of the ways in which new media technologies have shaped language and communication in contemporary Russia. It traces the development of the Russian-language internet, explores the evolution of web-based communication practices, showing how they have both shaped and been shaped by social, political, linguistic and literary realities, and examines online features and trends that are characteristic of, and in some cases specific to, the Russian-language internet.
Introduction Michael S. Gorham, Ingunn Lunde and Martin Paulsen Part 1: Contexts 1. The (Im)personal Connection: Computational Systems and (Post-)Soviet Cultural History Vlad Strukov 2. From the Utopia of Autonomy to a Political Battlefield: Towards a History of the "Russian Internet" Natalya Konradova and Henrike Schmidt Part 2: New Media Spaces 3. Divided by a Common Web: Some Characteristics of the Russian Blogosphere Gasan Gusejnov 4. Social Network Sites on the Runet: Exploring Social Communication Tine Roesen and Vera Zvereva 5. Testing and Contesting Russian Twitter Martin Paulsen and Vera Zvereva Part 3: Language and Diversity 6. The Written Turn: How CMC Actuates Linguistic Change in Russian Aleksandrs Berdicevskis 7. Slangs go Online, or the Rise and Fall of the Olbanian Language Aleksandrs Berdicevskis and Vera Zvereva 8. Language on Display: On the Performative Character of Computer-Mediated Metalanguage Ingunn Lunde 9. Translit: Computer-Mediated Digraphia on the Runet Martin Paulsen Part 4: Literature and New Technology 10. Russian Literature on the Internet: From Hypertext to Fairy Tale Henrike Schmidt 11. Occassional Political Poetry and the Culture of the Russian Internet Roman Leibov 12. Digitizing Everything? Online Libraries on the Runet Kåre Johan Mjør Part 5: The Political Realm 13. Politicians Online: Prospects and Perils of "Direct Internet Democracy" Michael S. Gorham 14. Languages of Memory Ellen Rutten 15. Is there a Russian Cyber Empire? Dirk Uffelmann
Biography
Michael S. Gorham is an Associate Professor of Russian Studies at the University of Florida, USA.
Ingunn Lunde is Professor of Russian at the University of Bergen, Norway.
Martin Paulsen is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Bergen, Norway.
From the initial participation of a digital elite to a plurality to the gain in general popularity extending to the LiveJournal platform. This is followed by a look at the linguistic and communicative characteristics of the Russian blogosphere, microblogging and social networking. - R. A. Erb, Colorado State University
This volume succeeds in presenting the diverse and peculiar aspects of Russian online, especially for the period until 2011. Most of the contributions are original, well written, convincing and will be value to students and researchers alike. The first and last sections will attract a wide readership, while the middle sections will be of value for future research exploring the diverse ways new media facilities language change. - Rolf Fredheim, University of Cambridge
