A History of Russian-Language Fanfiction

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Title: A History of Russian-Language Fanfiction
Creator: Daria Oblomskaya with the editorial assistance of A.F. Busek
Date(s): 2005
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A History of Russian-Language Fanfiction was written in 2005 by Daria Oblomskaya with the editorial assistance of A.F. Busek. It was created, in part, due to a request from Laura Hale.

Some topics covered: Nasal Translator, throwing the VCR out the window, the dearth of printed zines, and how fandom didn't start with Star Trek but with J.R.R. Tolkien.

The entire essay is atRuFFHistory, Archived version.

The fanwork was also cross-posted at Fanthropology where one can read comments. See May I tell you how we do it in Russia? :), posted November 3, 2005, accessed August 25, 2013; reference link [1] [2].

Some Excerpts

1970's - 1980's: Only VCRs brought us access to Western movies. However, VCR's were a rarity: the Soviet models didn't function at all (and even a simple TV was a luxury), Japanese VCRs were not imported, so only people who could travel abroad could purchase the whole magnificent set: a Sony/Panasonic/JVC/whatever double with a remote control (another miracle). And of course they also bought a couple of home-videos, although bringing Western tapes to the Soviet Union and watching them was strictly prohibited and prosecuted by the law. But those people were not really afraid, and they had a good reason: Those who were allowed to go abroad at all were usually very well-situated members of higher echelons of power: like the Communist party, diplomatic corps, upper layers of industry, etc. – They were immune to hassles by custom officials anyway. Luckily, those guys had children, and those kids had friends, and some of those friends were very inventive and entrepreneurial, and so the huge net of illegal copying, translation and distribution was born. One translator usually did the whole movie, pinching his nose with his fingers, so that his voice became unrecognizable: Since then "a nasal translator" has become a Myth and a Hero of the whole Soviet subculture. The movies were then often shown in organized underground meetings, and confrontations with the police, arrests etc. were not seldom: Organizers were known to throw the video-players out of the window to get rid of the evidence.

Late 1980's – early 1990's: Although subcultures were finally able to emerge from the underground, no printed fanzine tradition was formed – obviously because of technical problems: To print something privately was next to impossible. On the other hand, more-established fandoms managed to break-through into the mainstream publishing: Soviets were never too fussy about international copyright laws, and the publication of "sequels" or "works based on…" was generally accepted. Siberian Sherlockians (Ural S.H. Society) published a 2-volume anthology of Holmes-based fanfiction, both Russian and foreign (in translation); Tolkien fen in Novossibirsk issued a Tolkien-based collection of poetry; and Nik Perumov published a lengthy sequel to Lord of the Rings which triggered an interest for Tolkien among broader audiences. Role-playing games based on LotR and Silmarrillion became highly popular throughout the country.

Later 1990's - now: In the mid-90's, Russia got connected, and a new era began. The first fandom websites not surprisingly belonged to the Tolkien community – fanfiction and other creative output (parodies, poetry, essays) flourished and continue to thrive till this day; then came Anime sites; then Babylon 5 (1997)… the process was unstoppable and has been expanding ever since.

Some Fandom Timelines

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