Meanwhile, in Russia...: Russian Internet Memes and Viral Video
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Overview
The Russian internet is a hotbed for memes and viral videos: the political, satirical and simply absurd compete for attention in Russia while the West turns to it for an endless reserve of humorous content. But how did this powerful cyber community grow out of the repressive media environment of the Soviet Union? What does this viral content reveal about the country, its politics and its culture? And why are the memes and videos of today’s Russia so popular, spreading so rapidly across the globe?
Award-winning author Eliot Borenstein explores the explosive online movement and unpicks, for the first time, the role of mimetic content and digital activism in modern Russian history up to the present day.
The first in-depth exploration of Russian viral media culture, its history and legacy.
The first book to examine the history and impact of Russian memes and viral video culture
Fuses together ideas about digital media, nationalism, culture, and political activism
Provides a rare opportunity to address diverse cultural content produced in the idiom of students themselves
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
A Note on Resources
Introduction. Ivan The Terrible Kills Everybody
Chapter 1. Getting Memes Wrong
Chapter 2. The Soviet Memetic Landscape
Chapter 3. Looking Backward: A Meme’s Eye View of Russian History and Culture
Chapter 4. Folk Heroes of the Runet
Chapter 5. MemeStyles of the Rich and Famous
Chapter 6. The Whole World Is Watching
Chapter 7. Dance Dance Revolution
Chapter 8. Pictures at an Exhibition
Chapter 9. Going Viral: The Memes of COVID-19
Conclusion. The Quick and the Dank
Index
Eliot Borenstein’s portrait of online creativity in Russia is deft, witty, and thought-provoking, it makes you laugh and it makes you learn. A short book with a big impact.
By plunging into the world of Russian internet memes, Eliot Borenstein offers a visually exciting, highly readable, humorous and, at the same time, truly original and profound history of Russian culture in the first decades of the 21st century. A pleasure for anyone interested in contemporary Russia, this book has unique educational value – any course based on it will be a hit.
The author has conducted an in-depth analysis of the CSTO as a case study of post-Soviet integration. He relies on a clear methodological approach, using a wide range of factual data obtained from relevant sources… and theoretical research. The book will be of interest to a wide range of readers, from researchers and students to everyone interested in regional integration issues, security cooperation and functional organisations.
- Title: Meanwhile, in Russia...: Russian Internet Memes and Viral Video
- Author: Eliot Borenstein
- Series: Russian Shorts
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
- Print Publication Date: 2022
- Logos Release Date: 2024
- Pages: 160
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9781350181540, 9781350181526, 1350181528, 1350181544
- Resource ID: LLS:9781350181540
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2025-04-22T10:10:51Z
Eliot Borenstein is Professor of Russian & Slavic Studies, Collegiate Professor in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and Senior Academic Convenor for the Global Network at New York University, USA. His first book, Men Without Women: Masculinity and Revolution in Russian Fiction, 1917-1919, won the AATSEEL award for best work in literary scholarship in 2000. In 2007, he published Overkill: Sex and Violence in Contemporary Russian Popular Culture, which received the AWSS award for best book in Slavic Gender Studies in 2008. His is also the author of Plots Against Russia: Conspiracy and Fantasy after Socialism (2009) and Pussy Riot (Bloomsbury, 2020). Borenstein was also the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2009.