Full Description
Repercussions of communism are still felt throughout Central and Eastern Europe. In fact, specters of communism remain vivid enough to inspire a wide range of contemporary cultural production, from video games to museum exhibits. This volume demonstrates how the region remains in a state of transitioning away from communism, not having secured a fully post-communist identity.
The volume adopts an interdisciplinary approach to extend debates on the lasting impact of the communist era across Central and Eastern Europe with chapters thematically threaded through concepts including curation, immersion, interaction, humor and authenticity. A 'trauma/nostalgia paradigm' emerges as the tissue connecting the plurality of post-communist efforts employed to address the region's contested pasts. Twelve original essays by contributors from both 'inside' and 'outside' the region detail how twenty-first-century cultural productions reengage the communist past. The impact of this past is seen as fundamental to understanding and shaping Central and Eastern European identities.
Contents
List of Illustrations Foreword - Aniko Imre Acknowledgements Introduction The Trauma/Nostalgia Paradigm in Post-communist Cultural Production - Lucy Jeffery and Anna Váradi Chapter 1 Drawing the Romanian Revolution at the History Museum of Brasov - Carmen Levick Chapter 2 Retelling Soviet-era Anecdotes in Russian Online Media - Kateryna Yeremieieva Chapter 3 Gábor Zsigmond Papp's Retro Series and the Cultural Afterlife of Hungarian State Propaganda Films - Lucia Szemetová Chapter 4 Communicating Post-communist Identity through the Museum of Life Under Communism, Warsaw - Samantha Vaughn Chapter 5 -The Museumification of Victims of Communism and Bulgaria's Belene Forced Labor Camp - Georgeta Nazarska Chapter 6 The Museum of Occupations and Freedom Fights, Grutas Park and Lithuania's Narrative of the Communist Past - Katarzyna Jarosz Chapter 7 Televising Division and Reunification in the German TV Series Deutschland 89 - Lucy Jeffery and Anna Váradi Chapter 8 -Socialist Settings in Contemporary Hungarian and Czech Quality Television - Veronika Hermann Chapter 9 (Re)Playing the Hungarian Revolution in Contemporary Board Games - David Scott Diffrient and Sam Ernst Chapter 10 Uprooted Heritage as Curatorial Method and Artistic Medium in Yugoslavia- Natasa Jagdhuhn Chapter 11 Germany's Traumatic Communist Past through Contemporary Radio Life Narratives - Iana Nikitenko Chapter 12 The Hauntology of Communism in an Estonian Computer Role-playing Game - Claus Toft-Nielsen Conclusion - Lucy Jeffery and Anna Váradi About the Authors Bibliography Index
