title: Remaining relevant in the digital age: the role of the writer in contemporary Russia (the case of Tat'iana Tolstaia)
abstract: The present thesis studies Facebook publication activity of a popular contemporary Russian writer, Tat'iana Tolstaia. I argue that her posting contributes to the development of social capital (Bourdieu, 1986) among her readers and that she uses certain strategies to build both bridging and bonding social capital (Putnam, 2000). My research demonstrates that for Tolstaia the development of social capital is means of "remaining relevant" (Wachtel, 2006): it is her way to gain authority and social 