Creative Work of Cultic Poets of Runet as a Subcultural Phenomenon

The article is devoted to the verbal creative work of a cult Runet author Vera Polozkova. The article is based on the material of her early lyrics, presented in the first published book “Nepoemanie” (2008). The poems by Polozkova are considered in the context of youth subculture traditions. We identified such key components of the poet’s worldview typical of modern youth subcultures as non-conformism, elitism, the overall searching orientation of her creative work (information and communication technologies, the need for finding like-minded people, love and faith in God), in regards to poetics the main features are extreme expression (metaphorization), urbanism (poetization of urban space), as well as an appeal to the genres of youth creative work, slang, ICT vocabulary and obscene language. The author of the article makes a conclusion that the bright expression of some typical characteristics of youth culture by Vera Polozkova makes her a popular poet and performer both on Runet and outside it (live performances). At the same time subcultural issues and poetics do not limit the variety of the writer’s lyric themes and poetic means. Her early works continue wonderful traditions of Russian literature, heritage of Marina Tzvetaeva, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Joseph Brodsky and others.

The article also identifies and focuses on the essential features of the electronic (digital) literature and the possibility of considering it as a space in which a number of subcultural associations/communities exist.