Appropriating History: The Soviet Past in Belarusian, Russian and Ukrainian Popular Culture
Bielefeld: transcript Verlag (2024), 316 pp.
Contains illustrations
Series: History in Popular Cultures, 21
ISBN 978-3-8394-6077-1 (pdf); 978-3-8376-6077-7 (print)
"Popular media play an important role in reconstructing collective imaginations of history. Dramatic events and ruptures of the 20th century provide the material for playful as well as neo-imperialist and nationalist appropriations of the past. The contributors to the volume investigate this phenomenon using case studies from Belarusian, Russian and Ukrainian popular cultures. They show how in mainstream films, TV series, novels, comics and computer games, the reference to Soviet history offers role models, action patterns and even helps to justify current political and military developments. The volume thus presents new insights into the multi-layered and explosive dynamics of popular culture in Eastern Europe." (Publisher description)
INTRODUCTION
Popular Culture and History in Post-Soviet Nation States / Matthias Schwartz and Nina Weller, 11
I. PLACES OF LONGING: YESTERDAY’S TALES, MELODRAMATIC LIVES AND ASTONISHING WORLDS
1 More than Nostalgia: Late Socialism in Contemporary Russian Television Series / Mark Lipovetsky, 29
2 Drawn History: Ukrainian Graphic Fiction about National History / Svitlana Pidoprygora, 45
3 Narrating Russia’s Multi-Ethnic Past: The Historical Novels of Guzel Yakhina / Eva Binder, 69
4 The Zone as a Place of Repentance and Retreat: Chernobyl in Belarusian Films of the 1990s and 2000s / Olga Romanova, 89
II. COMBAT ZONES: WAR HEROES, RESISTANCE FIGHTERS AND JOYFUL PARTISANS
5 Alternative Versions of the Past and the Future: Soviet and Post-Soviet Pop Literature / Maria Galina and Ilya Kukulin, 111
6 Ludic Epistemologies and Alternate Histories: The Soviet Past in Role-Playing Games / Daniil Leiderman, 133
7 Partisan, Anti-Partisan, pARTisan, Party-Zan, Cyberpartisan: On the Popularity of Partisanhood in Belarusian Culture / Nina Weller, 155
8 Mummified Subversion: Reconstructions of Soviet Rock Underground in Contemporary Russian Cinema / Roman Dubasevych, 187
III. SITES OF TRAUMA: HORROR FANTASIES, WEIRD SCENERIES AND REALMS OF TERROR
9 Dealing with Cultural Traumas: Popular Representations of the Past in Contemporary Belarusian Prose / Lidia Martinovich, 207
10 Nostalgia for Trauma: Russian Prize Literature and the Soviet Past / Valery Vyugin, 225
11 The Affective Landscapes of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Domesticating Nuclear Disaster in a Video Game / Oleksandr Zabirko, 241
12 Come and See, Once Again: A Russian Television Series on the Seventh Symphony in Defeated Leningrad / Matthias Schwartz, 265
EPILOGUE
Public History, Popular Culture, and the Belarusian Experience in a Comparative Perspective: A Conversation / Aliaksei Bratachkin in conversation with the editors, 293
Popular Culture and History in Post-Soviet Nation States / Matthias Schwartz and Nina Weller, 11
I. PLACES OF LONGING: YESTERDAY’S TALES, MELODRAMATIC LIVES AND ASTONISHING WORLDS
1 More than Nostalgia: Late Socialism in Contemporary Russian Television Series / Mark Lipovetsky, 29
2 Drawn History: Ukrainian Graphic Fiction about National History / Svitlana Pidoprygora, 45
3 Narrating Russia’s Multi-Ethnic Past: The Historical Novels of Guzel Yakhina / Eva Binder, 69
4 The Zone as a Place of Repentance and Retreat: Chernobyl in Belarusian Films of the 1990s and 2000s / Olga Romanova, 89
II. COMBAT ZONES: WAR HEROES, RESISTANCE FIGHTERS AND JOYFUL PARTISANS
5 Alternative Versions of the Past and the Future: Soviet and Post-Soviet Pop Literature / Maria Galina and Ilya Kukulin, 111
6 Ludic Epistemologies and Alternate Histories: The Soviet Past in Role-Playing Games / Daniil Leiderman, 133
7 Partisan, Anti-Partisan, pARTisan, Party-Zan, Cyberpartisan: On the Popularity of Partisanhood in Belarusian Culture / Nina Weller, 155
8 Mummified Subversion: Reconstructions of Soviet Rock Underground in Contemporary Russian Cinema / Roman Dubasevych, 187
III. SITES OF TRAUMA: HORROR FANTASIES, WEIRD SCENERIES AND REALMS OF TERROR
9 Dealing with Cultural Traumas: Popular Representations of the Past in Contemporary Belarusian Prose / Lidia Martinovich, 207
10 Nostalgia for Trauma: Russian Prize Literature and the Soviet Past / Valery Vyugin, 225
11 The Affective Landscapes of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Domesticating Nuclear Disaster in a Video Game / Oleksandr Zabirko, 241
12 Come and See, Once Again: A Russian Television Series on the Seventh Symphony in Defeated Leningrad / Matthias Schwartz, 265
EPILOGUE
Public History, Popular Culture, and the Belarusian Experience in a Comparative Perspective: A Conversation / Aliaksei Bratachkin in conversation with the editors, 293
