Interactive documentaries: definition of the concept in Russian and foreign studies

Abstract

The article provides an overview of modern Russian and foreign studies considering the concept of "interactive documentary" (interactive documentary, i-docs, idoc) and related terms: "web documentary" (web documentary, web-doc, webdoc), "interactive documentary". Theoretical foundations are given, approaches to the definition of these concepts are briefly described. The study uses descriptive, informative, comparative and structural-functional methods to solve a scientific problem. The research material was the works of Russian, American, British, Spanish, Turkish and Chinese scientists from 2011-2023. The most common, frequently cited and used definitions were selected for the review. The author of the article draws attention to the terminological uncertainty in the field under study, identifies the problems associated with defining the boundaries of the concept of "interactive documentaries", highlights the most promising aspects in identifying the characteristics of this new phenomenon and outlines directions for further research. As a result of the research, the author comes to the conclusion that due to the multimodality, complexity, openness and dynamism of the form of interactive documentaries, it would be appropriate to designate this phenomenon as a meta-genre. The proposed research lays the prerequisites for further search for the most accurate definition of interactive documentaries, corresponding to the current level of media development, accumulated theoretical and creative experience.