Internet Folklore and AI in the Digital Society

Fairy tales, folk legends, chastushki (short humorous rhymed songs), urban legends, jokes, memes, and creepy stories... What do they have in common? They are all examples of folk art available both in offline and online formats.

In the digital society, there are ample opportunities for communication, creating online communities and interest-based groups. This not only leads to the shaping of specific behavioural, humour and etiquette norms, but also gives rise to the new forms of digital art.

The internet has a dual effect: on one hand, it leads to quick changes in trends and popular characters, while on the other hand, it allows them to escape the grasp of time, even to make a comeback after many years. In addition to that, the development of artificial intelligence technologies brings new trends in folk art.

How do different types of such folklore relate to each other, and how does folk art reflect societal processes? What role can urban legends and fairy tales play in the digital society? We will explore these and many other questions during the lecture.

Lecturer

Diana Budko is an Associate Professor at St Petersburg University (Department of Political Institutions and Applied Political Science), PhD in Political Science. Her research interests cover a wide range of subjects related to the e-government, political culture, and anthropology. Her research papers and academic presentations explore issues of political mythology, folklore, mass culture, cultural policy, and digitalisation.

Diana Budko teaches courses on political humour, internet folklore, imageology, political discourse, media convergence, and media ethics. She also supervises research projects of undergraduate and graduate students.

The lecture will be streamed online in Russian with simultaneous translation into Spanish.

registration