The problems of the creative hierarchy in Russian-speaking fandom communitiesby the example of the flash mob «I am not afraid to create»

Relevance of the study. Fanfiction, according to the researchers, is a manifestation of the modern trend towards the democratization of art. However, the public discussion of the fandom hierarchy, which took place as part of the flash mob “I am not afraid to create”, held in the spring of 2018 on diary.ru, not only allows us to take a fresh perspective on the problems of the creative hierarchy in the Russian-speaking fandom, but also contributes to a deeper understanding of how hierarchical relations are created, exist, and challenged in culture in general. Purpose. Based on the materials of flash mob “I am not afraid to create”, to offer a new perspective on the creative hierarchy within the Russian-speaking fandom communities. Tasks. To analyze the main features of the research discourse in understanding the fandom hierarchy; to consider the positions available in the Russian-speaking fan community regarding the creative hierarchy; to identify the mechanisms of building a hierarchy in the fandom; to compare the creative hierarchy of the fandom and the professional literary community in Russia. Methods. The study is based on a set of qualitative cultural and sociolinguistic methods, combining the methods of included observation and case studies, as well as elements of content analysis, narrative analysis and discourse analysis. Research result. The widespread research view, representing fan fiction as a phenomenon that destroys hierarchies and considering fandom communities as spaces of equality, does not seem to reflect the complexity of the phenomenon. The flash mob “I am not afraid to create” revealed a difference in points of view on the hierarchies in the community (lack of hierarchy, hierarchy as violence, hierarchy as inevitability and benefit), and some users trace the correlation between the participants' views and their status in the community. The literal transfer of critical strategies from the “big” literature to the fandom environment can be used as a way to build a hierarchy. Also, the order of arrival in fandom, age, specifics of fandom activity, official authority, social and cultural capital (social connections, education, knowledge, and most importantly, user-generated fandom content and marks of excellence received in the fandom) are common mechanisms for building a hierarchy in the Russianspeaking fandom. Conclusions. Having destroyed the author-reader hierarchy, the fandom community has built its own hierarchy, which is now again disputed by the community members themselves. In the process of the ongoing struggle for power and authority, the Russian-speaking fandom community easily borrows both strategies for building a hierarchy (in particular, those adopted in the professional literary community) and methods of dealing with it (in particular, feminist discourse).

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