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Interviews | ||||||||||
| "For us, the Internet was an evironment where we were living". Interview with Leonid Delicyn, founder of the literary Internet contest "Tenjota" in Moscow, March 10, 2004. The following interview was recorded in March
2004 in the hotel Rossija near the Red Square and the Cremlin. As we
sat together and talked for almost two hours we decided to divide the
abundant material into thematical blocks, redefining some questions
and leaving out some details. You find annotations and links to persons
and resources mentioned in the interview at the end of the text. To
listen to the audio files, the Windows Media Player is required. For
free download click
THE INTERVIEW: The development of the Russian Internet - The significance of Russian Diaspora Russian Cyberspace.org:
How would you characterize the impact of Russian people living abroad
on the development of what is called 'Russian Internet' ? Russian Cyberspace.org: How does the fact that Russians living abroad got blamed for their impact on the Russian Internet correspond to your idea of the Net as a means of communication that overcomes geographical and social borders? Leonid:
Russian Cyberspace.org: When you speak of values people living in Russia didn't like you to bring from abroad, what values do you mean? Leonid:
Russian Cyberspace.org: Do you think that these new values are coming into Russia now, in fact not only by Russians living abroad but also by advertisement e.g.? Leonid:
Russian Cyberspace.org: The trial against Bajan Shirjanov you mentioned was initiated by a group called "Idusshie vmestje" what means "those who march together". Do they represent the new mainstream entering the Internet? Leonid:
Russian Cyberspace.org: There was a similar trial against the well known writer Vladimir Sorokin, which seemed to be part of a marketing strategy. Leonid:
The literary segment of the Russian Internet - The development of literary contests Russian Cyberspace.org: Can you tell us something about the development of the first Russian literary contests? Leonid:
Russian Cyberspace.org: How was the Net conceptualized in those projects? Leonid:
Russian
Cyberspace.org: The literary contest Tenjota is one of the few
early projects still alive. What are the differences between this initiative
and the competing contests? Leonid:
Russian Cyberspace.org: Does the Internet offer possibilities for publication and self-expression otherwise unavailable to Russians? Leonid:
Russian Cyberspace.org: Does the Russian Internet get censored? Leonid:
Russian Cyberspace.org: Do you agree with Dmitrij Ivanov of nethistory.ru that there is no censorship in the Internet so far? Leonid:
Russian Cyberspace.org: Let's return once again to Bajan Shirjanovs provocative work. Can the trial be understood as a form of censorship? And how may the strong reaction to his work be explained? Leonid:
Russian Cyberspace.org: Does publishing outside the RU.Domain help Russian writers fight agenda setting? Leonid:
Russian Cyberspace.org: It seems that literature played quite an important role in the development of the media and news sector within the Russian Internet. Was it their involvement with literature that brought some of the early founders into todays media business or was it their involvement with the Internet? Leonid:
Russian Cyberspace.org: You are saying that literature in Russia lost its importance. What might be the reason for it? Leonid:
Russian Cyberspace.org: Thinking of all the readers who became writers by using weblogs e.g., it's rather hard to believe you saying that literature in Russia lost its meaning. Leonid:
Russian Cyberspace.org: Doesn't the fact that the Internet is turning readers into writers and writers into readers actually prove its democratic nature? Leonid:
Russian Cyberspace.org: In her election campaign 2004 Irina Khakamada said that there are many more Russians believing in democratic values than TV e.g. wants us to believe. Leonid:
Russian Cyberspace.org: Is the Russian Internet still a place where you can present things you couldn't present anywhere else? Leonid:
Russian Cyberspace.org: If you don't believe in the liberating power of the Internet what do you and other authors mainly use it for? Leonid:
Leonid:
Russian Cyberspace.org: You don't make money from your literary contest. Why? Leonid:
Russian Cyberspace.org: But then the Internet is more than fun. It is a kind of ideology to support people representing innovative art and literature. Leonid:
Russian Cyberspace.org: Do you think of yourself as a power elite? Leonid:
Russian Cyberspace.org: What do you mean by saying that you are no 'player' anymore? Leonid:
____________________ ANNOTATIONS: Gel'man, Marat: popular galerist promoting
contemporary arts; initiated some of the most popular cultural Internet
projects as for example his Khakamada, Irina: scientist, busineswoman,
Idushhie wmestje / Go together: Ivanov, Dmitrij: historian,
journalist, Internet manager; has been working on the Russian Internet
for several years; occupied a leading position in the Lejbov, Roman: philologist, assistant
professor at the University of Tartu in Estonia; one of the founding
fathers of the Russian Literary Internet; initiated in 1995 the first
Russian literary hypertext; worked as an editor and journalist in the
Russian Journal; one of the leading figures in the support campaign
for the library Maksym Moshkov which is currently accused of copyright
violations; initiator and editor of the academic philological website
Ljevkin, Andrej: writer and Internet
journalist; winner of the prestigious literary contest Kolpakov, Vladimir:
founder and manager of the first entertainment portal in Russian language
Konenko, Maksym: writer,
musical critic, Internet journalist; initiator of popular Web projects
in the fields of literature, music, media and mass-culture; author of
the largely covered and widely translated political Internet serial
" Kovaljenin, Dmitrij:
writer, translator of Japanese literature; translated and popularized
Haruki Murakami in Russia; "owner" of a popular website Kudrjavcev, Demjan: Kuz'min, Dmitrij: writer,
philologist, literary critic and editor; initiated and organizes some
Moscow literary clubs; "author" of one of the most prominent
literary websites on the Russian Internet called Manin, Dmitrij: physicist and programmer;
"author" of some of the first prominent literary games on
the Russian Internet Moshkov, Maksym: mathematician and programmer,
one of the founding fathers of the Russian literary Internet; started
his private collection of literary works in 1994 which turned out to
be the largest and most prominent Nosik, Anton: journalist, one of the
leaders of the Russian media sector in the Internet; from 1990-1997
lived in Israel where he started his famous column "Evening Internet";
when returned to Moscow worked as (chief)editor of several popular Internet
journals and news agencies as Open Russia / Otkrytaja Rossija:
non commercial organization founded and financed by the oil company
Yukos whose president and leading manager is actually accused of tax
fraud and held in prison. The Sorokin, Vladimir: one of the most prominent
Russian writers whose books are widely translated; Sorokins Shirjanov, Bajan (nick-name): Kirill Vorobjov, writer and "zen-punk".; author of a series of books desribing the life of Russian junkies which made him famous and caused a scandal; some of these books were first published on the Internet; Bajan Shirjanov is actually accused of pornography by the youth organisation "Idusshie vmestje"; court decision is not yet taken. Strugackij, Boris and Arkadij
(d. 1991): popular writers of science fiction; literary works
of the brothers are available on the Verner, Dmitrij: astro-physicist;
founder of the most popular humorous content project of the Russian
Internet Zhitinskij, Aleksandr: writer, editor, publisher; represents the older generation of Russian netizens; initiated one of the first literary clubs on the Internet Art-Lito and was engaged in several literary contests; as editor and publisher tried to establish print-on-demand as a publishing tool for Net literature; his sites are (currently?) not available. Cunskij, Andrej: writer
and journalist; winner of the literary contest LINKS:
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