Persona of Modern Media: Mayakovsky through the Eyes of “Post-Science” and Mass Culture

Abstract

The article studies the issue of popularization of scientific knowledge that forms its own media sphere, and their transmedia “mutation”. The article examines Vladimir Mayakovsky’s characters and related myths: “lover”, “suicide”, “propagandist”, “rebel”, etc. It is noted that a historical or literary persona, depending on the era or political situation, freely changes its axiological status. Currently, Mayakovsky is a meme, a template, a sign that expresses modern stereotypes of mass consciousness. The article talks about such media and media platforms as “Arzamas”, “Russian Seven”, “Yandex.Zen”, which presents a variety of materials in orientation to the addressee, in style and correlation with facts: from those claiming to be literary and school-methodical texts to frank fakes. It is concluded that in order to attract a mass consumer, such articles are built on the principle of cognitive dissonance, as it is one of the most effective ways of producing “meanings” for the exploitation of mass consciousness. In the case of Mayakovsky, there is collision of opposite, mutually exclusive ideas about him.