Full Description
In TV Socialism, AnikÓ Imre provides an innovative history of television in socialist Europe during and after the Cold War. Rather than uniform propaganda programming, Imre finds rich evidence of hybrid aesthetic and economic practices, including frequent exchanges within the region and with Western media, a steady production of varied genre entertainment, elements of European public service broadcasting, and transcultural, multi-lingual reception practices. These televisual practices challenge conventional understandings of culture under socialism, divisions between East and West, and the divide between socialism and postsocialism. Taking a broad regional perspective encompassing Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, Imre foregrounds continuities between socialist television and the region's shared imperial histories, including the programming trends, distribution patterns, and reception practices that extended into postsocialism. Television, she argues, is key to understanding European socialist cultures and to making sense of developments after the end of the Cold War and the enduring global legacy of socialism.
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction. Why Do We Need to Talk about Socialism and TV? 1
Part I. Genres of Realism and Reality
1. From Socialist Realism to Emotional Realism 27
2. Tele-education 40
3. Crime Appeal 66
4. The Great Socialist Game (Show) 83
5. Postsocialist Ethno-Racial Reality TV 108
Part II. Genres of History
6. The Historical Adventure Drama 133
7. Postsocialist Nostalgia and European Historical Drama 155
8. Commercials as Time-Space Machines 173
Part III. Genres of Fiction
9. Women and TV 187
10. Socialist Soaps 199
Part IV. Genres of Humor
11. Socialist Comedy 227
12. (Post)socialist Political Satire 242
Afterword. Afterward 257
Notes 261
Bibliography 299
Index 311
