Academia vs Forums: Official and Unofficial Knowledge – The “Case” of Cyril and Methodius [Academia...

The digital (virtual) space is the place (some would go as far as to call it the most democratic of all spaces) where ideas and opinions clash, where new meanings are being created, where new values and beliefs are being forged. At the same time, digital space is the site where meaning is shaped and defined. This paper aims at exploring possible changes in meaning when examining Cyril and Methodius via digital space. Hence, said transformations practically help forge new meanings about the past. By situating Cyril and Methodius within the context of the virtual media space, this paper aims at examining how a culture’s heritage and its representation within digital time stand in direct correlation with the needs of contemporary politics and dominant discourses. Thus, the representations of Cyril and Methodius forged within the digital space breathe new meanings into old legacies, i.e., they de/construct and re/construct it. The research shows that said process, though mostly chaotic and partial, is always compatible with powerful (even if oftentimes contradictory) discourses. Along those lines, if juxtaposing the meaning of a culture’s heritage with said culture’s contemporality, we can in fact ascertain its function, meaning, and influence on contemporary cultural processes. Or, to paraphrase Simon During, to examine the ways in which past traces and representations enter contemporary (popular) culture.