Associated PhD project

This thesis posits the intersection of different study fields: Internet studies, Literary studies, Media studies, and cultural research. The main question of the research is, following Foucault, what is an author?
Authorship as a phenomenon is a most discussed topic in literary studies, and the answer to Foucault's question depends on aesthetical and sociocultural conventions. It is common that in Modern Times author means some unique status; literature was a deal for chosen ones. The invention of the Internet broke this convention; now everyone could publish their works, authors communicate with their readers on online platforms, printed books are no more a single way to reproduce the text.
My object of study is self-publishing platforms such as Author.Today, Litnet.com, Litres: Samizdat, Litmarket.ru and others.
In this research, based on anthropology methods such as included and non-included observations, interviews, analysis of social media, I'm going to explore the authorship on self-publishing literary platforms in Russia. My main research questions are: What does it mean to be an author and to publish their works on the Internet? What strategies do authors use to legitimate themselves as authors? What communication strategies do they use while working on these platforms?
During my visit to the Leibniz Centre for Contemporary History I will be working on the articles devoted to the history of self-publishing portals in Russia and about the digital affordances of read-write platforms.