Identity of the subject of fandom culture as an autoproject in the conditions of a postmodern society: the dialectics of challenge and security

The promotion of identity research to the forefront of modern humanities is often associated with the actual state of society, which nowadays is characterized by the growing speed of political, social, technological changes. Many authors define the modern state of human identity as a "crisis", because it has lost the stability of its foundations, which is a reflection of the crisis state of society, manifested, in particular, in the characteristic of postmodern rejection of an integral picture of the world. In the postmodern world, identity becomes not only a "problem", but also a right to freedom of choice of one's identity. And fanfiction (the literary creativity of popular culture fans, created on the basis of these works within the framework of the interpretative community (fandom)) can be considered as a metaphor for this state of affairs. By providing a choice for their hero, authors of fanfiction simultaneously defend their own right to that choice, creating and filtering various autoprojects of identity. The problem of correlation of the following contradictory tendencies in the functioning of fan-dom culture attracted special attention of the author of the article: on the one hand, it is the free construction of a new artistic reality on the basis of the primary source, implying various challenges to existing cultural and social norms, as well as to oneself; on the other hand, it is the desire to preserve and ensure the security of the conditions where these challenges are carried out. This contradiction can be conceptualized as a dialectics of challenge and security. The aim of the author was to analyze the manifestations of the dialectics of challenge and security as the basis of fandom culture, within the framework where the identity of its subject is formed. For this, in the first place, it seems necessary to point out the connection between fandom culture and the postmodern type of thinking; then to consider manifestations of the dialectics of security and challenge at different levels (social, cultural, psychological and existential). The fanfiction in this article is considered as a form of creative activity, in which the tendencies of postmodern artistic creativity are expressed vividly and carried to extremes. But fan-texts are created and exist within the community of fandom, which exerts a tremendous influence on them. At the same time, the fandom community is included in the context of the whole existing culture, which in its turn reflects the ideas of the modern person about the world and bears the imprint of his consciousness. The article attempts to analyze dialectics of security and challenge as the basis of fandom culture, within the framework where the identity of its subject is formed, at different levels: social, cultural, psychological and existential. The analysis shows the contradictory nature of the fandom culture, examines the ways in which its subjects in the process of designing their own identity, challenge the existing social and cultural relations, to themselves and reality, and describes the conditions and mechanisms by which the security of the fandom environment is ensured.

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