Alexei Krivolap is a graduate of the cultural studies program at the Belarusian State University in Minsk. He was a research fellow at the Freie Universität Berlin (2003) and Washington State University (2008). Krivolap is a lecturer at the European University for Humanities, where he teaches courses in audiovisual communication. In 2006-07 he was the leader of international research project "Construction of National Identity on the Internet (Case Studies: Belarus , Ukraine , and Moldova )". He is a co-organizer of an open research seminar on media culture in Vilnius, Lithuanian. His monograph Belarus as a Borderland: Modelling of Media-Landscape (European University for Humanities) appeared in 2008.
The article analyses the representation of power relations within Belarusian cyberspace. Particular attention is paid to the ways in which virtual space is appropriated by political bodies, and how the structures of web space accommodate and cause self-isolation. The contribution also discusses the role of the Russian language as a tool for constructing identity and creating a sense of (dis-)belonging on the Internet.
Associated links:
Internet Studies in Belarus
Language of contribution: Russian
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