Fictional Campus: Its People and Their Lifestyle

Traditionally, the academic community was a small but influential group of intellectuals more closely associated with their field of study than any university or college. Such elements as individual viewpoints, belonging to a community, collaboration in commonly realised goals, academic freedom, and university autonomy were respected (Billot). Currently, the academic community is a specific type of community, which, as Zygmunt Bauman notes, agreeing with Benedict Anderson, is treated as “a figment of the imagination”² (34). Unlike in the past, this community works both locally and internationally, being involved in various networks of scholars and institutions. As a result, academic space nowadays has a less physical dimension and refers to the sphere of values, symbols, and meanings, and the community gathers around the thoughts and ideas of distinguished academics (Rogalski 32). In the 1950s, the academic community became a subject of interest in various university narratives,³ representing the uniqueness of multiple aspects of university life and practices and making critical use of them. In this article, I will concentrate on such aspects: makeup, internal organisation, way of life, affairs, and customs of the academic community.