How literary classics are actualised on the Internet. A study of Yandex.Zen blogs

Abstract

The article examines the sociocultural parameters of actualising literary classics in the blogosphere, primarily as ‘communication wares.’ The researchers consider the original goals of bloggers targeting large untrained audiences on the popular Yandex.Zen platform. Such objectives are inspired by the taste and needs of the mass-market consumer. This study covers such popular blogs as Pravoe Polusharie Introverta [The right hemisphere of an Introvert], Kulturologiya Dlya Vsekh [Cultural studies for all], Arkhivarius Kot [Cat the Archivist], etc. The selected blogs contain examples of several actualisation strategies used for literary classics: ‘debunking,’ or ‘scandalous actualisation;’ simplification or depiction that conforms to a set of stereotypes (stereotypisation); and ‘informative/enlightening’ popularisation that uses biographical and historical methods. D. Ivanov and D. Lakerbay argue that any method with an ambition to create a comprehensive analysis of a literary classic using a plain, ‘mass user-friendly’ language is doomed.