WEEKDAYS AND HOLIDAYS OF OFFICE PLANKTON, OR THE CULT OF FRIDAY AS A FACT OF MODERN (MEDIA) CULTURE

The article offers an interpretation of the new cultural practice of celebrating the end of the working week with mass real and media actions. Their mass character allows us to talk about the formation of the cult of Friday. Attention is drawn to the youth of this practice, and it is emphasized that its social base is office workers, or "office plankton." From the standpoint of the semiotics of everyday life, the cult of Friday is interpreted as an element of festive traditions that are actively supported by modern media folklore – literature, which consists of crealized texts posted mainly on the Internet, but also in urban environments, the interiors of drinking establishments, etc. Marked by belonging to a modern laughing culture, this literature is analyzed in aspects of genre composition and precedent. Special attention is paid to the fact that the cult of Friday in question turns out to be opposed to the Soviet cult of labor with its glorification and glorification.