Formats of presentation and creation of literary texts in literary Runet (1990s – early 2020s)

Digital Humanities is one of the most promising fields in contemporary science. Studying the influence of the digital environment on humans, particularly on their activities in the intellectual sphere, is not only relevant but also essential. The significance of these studies lies in the need to reconstruct and comprehend the rapid and intense interaction and mutual influence between the digital environment and humans. By creating a digital environment that is as convenient and efficient as possible, humans delegate many tasks that they previously performed themselves. In this process of task delegation, an inevitable blurring of boundaries occurs between digital technologies and humans, where technologies begin to acquire human-like traits, while humans themselves become more technological. The issue of shifting boundaries becomes particularly important in the realm of creative activity related to the cultural production of objects possessing aesthetic, moral, and spiritual value. One of the key questions in this field is studying the influence of the digital environment on the principles of existence, functioning, and creation of literary texts. Currently, to explore this question, it is necessary not merely to analyze isolated examples but to apply a longitudinal approach. Examining the phenomenon within its historical dynamics over an extended period will reveal patterns of its development, as well as its core and peripheral characteristics. This article analyzes internet projects and creative experiments within the digital environment of the literary Runet from the 1990s to the present. A periodization of the development of the literary Runet is proposed, comprising three stages: 1) the 1990s - early 2000s; 2) early 2000s - 2010s; 3) early 2020s. For each of these periods, the formats of presenting literary texts in the digital environment and the formats of their creation are examined. The appropriateness of using the term "format" to describe this phenomenon is also substantiated. The dynamics of the development of presentation formats are linked to the creation of internet infrastructure, which simultaneously serves as both a mechanism and a result of the formation of digital reading culture. The main trend among internet projects aimed at exploring new formats for presenting literary texts during the studied period is a shift from non-commercial initiatives, whose goal was the creation, storage, and dissemination of information, to commercial subscription-based aggregators distributing literary content in digital and audio formats. The development of formats for creating literary texts is entirely dependent on the functional capabilities of digital tools, which change from period to period. Digital tools refer both to software products specifically designed for creating texts (e.g., ChatGPT, Alisa, Amazon Alexa, and others) and to communication platforms (such as LiveJournal, Facebook, VKontakte, Telegram) where literary works are created, published, and discussed. Both types of digital tools influence changes in the poetics of works created with their assistance. Reviewing the history of literature in the Runet, we conclude that the early 2000s - 2010s represent the most experimental period for literature in the Runet. During this stage, new creation formats gave rise to new genres: the blog-novel and LitRPG novel, "pirozhki"/"poroshki" and video poetry, and "network drama." By the early 2020s, despite the dramatically increased role of digital reality in human life, interest in constructing new formats has waned; the most notable phenomena are the media migration of writers to Telegram and experiments in creating literature in collaboration with AI. The authors declare no conflicts of interests.

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