Natalia Sokolova, (Ph. D., in Philosophy, Moscow State University of M.V. Lomonosov, 1994), is an Associate Professor at the University of Samara, Russia. She teaches such courses as Sociology of Communication, Introduction to Visual Studies, Popular Culture in the New Media Age (Aesthetics and Politics). Her research interests include: aestheticisation of everyday life, transformation of popular culture under the influence of new media, fan-culture and fan-art, visual studies, and gender studies. She has also served as trainer and manager at workshops for journalists and advertising specialists in Russia's Volga region. She has published on the aesthetics and politics of popular culture. She is a participant of the international seminar Visual Studies of Immedia: Exploring Postmodern Immediacy of Mass Media (2007-2009) (sponsored by Soros Foundation).
In spite of the generally assumed de-politicisation of Runet, Russian television fans exercise political goals in their everyday web practices, irrespective of the nature of their fandom. In well-organized web communities, as well as when personal interests of television fans are affected, the users display a more reflective attitude to political issues albeit refraining from civic or political action. Nevertheless, Internet platforms serving Russian television fans should be considered as potential site of resistance, especially in light of greater use of the Internet as a tool of political manipulation and commercialization of fan culture. Some television fans may have preferences-tastes-that contradict the dominant cultural tendencies. When these users defend their tastes they position themselves outside the cultural control and discipline. These fans' withdrawal from activism should be interpreted as their mistrust in politics, and ultimately, as political resistance.
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Natalia Sokolova
Language of contribution: English
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