[...]f the Cold War ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> Europe’s repressed imperial ="trms">history


two ="trms">different modes of re="trms">membering='lgc'>:
="lsts lst1">•="trms">history ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> official, public and professional modes (as="trms">sociated with com="trms">memoration and musealization)
="lsts lst1">•="trms">memory ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> unofficial, popular and private modes (frequently as="trms">sociated with nostalgia and ="trms">consumerism)

="large lg2" stl="font-size:111%"> ="trms">literary and cinematic texts that foreground some form of preoccupation with the ="trms">past


="prgrph">-television (amnesiac qualities) has been accused of undermining ="trms">memory and perpetuating a sense of ephemerality and transience ='lgc'>--='not'>✕='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='strcls'>*television is also a powerful mnemonic tool='strcls'>*

='strcls'>***television is both amnesiac ='and'>& mnemonic='strcls'>*** ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> tv's propensity to resonate in ="trms">different temporalities at once

television='lgc'>: a vehicle for the transformation of and a source of information about the quotidian ='lgc'>~ primary generator of collective ="trms">memory ='lgc'>[='lgc'><='lgc'>-- this is now ="trms">social media, In="trms">stagram TikTok='lgc'>]

="trms">historical drama
pseudo documentary
period drama series
='lgc'>='lgc'>--> providing the viewers with a “useable ="trms">past” that is always related to and relevant to the concerns of the ="trms">present


in the post="trms">socia="trms"nttrm="listen,alist,ilist,llist,olist,ylist,ulist">list region, the ="trms">past has especially sensitive nerve endings in the ="trms">present

national regimes ='and'>& individual citizens alike have tried to revive usable paradigms of identity from ="trms">past periods (to clear away or at least cover up the ="trms">historical debris left behind)

television as a massive archaeological site

poly="trms">morphic, undefinable identity with tentacles in several fields that makes television (and popular ="trms">internet media) so confusing

(to understand who has stakes) in keeping ="trms">history and ="trms">memory practices separate and in minimizing the role of television and other popular media


(="trms">internet popular media) television's messy status as a medium

="trms">communist parties ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> mould television to standardize citizens's everyday domestic life rhythms
="lsts lst1">•cheerleading docu="trms">fictions
="lsts lst1">•educational quiz shows
="lsts lst1">•uplifting entertainment such as theatrical broadcasts of Russian and European classics
="lsts lst1">•doctored news
="lsts lst1">•limited advertising
="lsts lst1">•domestically produced dramatic series focused firmly on the romanticized ="trms">historical ="trms">past

='lgc'>{projective ideals ='lgc'>=/= actual experiential realities of ="trms">socialism='lgc'>}='lgc'>='lgc'>==> layer of ironic distance between ='lgc'>[media (television) and its viewers='lgc'>]

(1990s following the Soviet empire's dis="trms">integration ='lgc'>='lgc'>-->) ironic overidentification ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> nostalgia
='lgc'>--Imre='lgc'>='lgc'>--> evasion of television allows for nostalgia to be misframed and misappropriated as a sentiment that marks the end of ="trms">socialism ='lgc'>[temporally and clearly demarcates backward-looking post="trms">socia="trms"nttrm="listen,alist,ilist,llist,olist,ylist,ulist">list populations from forward-looking (Western) observers='lgc'>]
='lgc'>-='lgc'>-='lgc'>='lgc'>--> takes into account television's (and ="trms">internet ="trms">social media) relevance to collective ="trms">memory

post-X nostalgia='lgc'>: a near-="trms">visceral yearning for the false sense of safety derived from the ="trms">memory of X (fetishistically attached to public personas or ="trms">consumer products of the ="trms">past)


nostalgia='lgc'>: an ="trms">interpretive framework ='lgc'>}='lgc'><='lgc'>-- ='strcls'>**sense of intimate ="trms">sociality disrupted by the collapse of a centralized ="trms">system of governance and the influx of globalization='strcls'>**

nostalgia is a discourse (that is not ="trms">specific to Eastern Europe) populations disappointed with and un="trms">="trms">equipped to deal with the advent of ="trms">market democracy


there are more than one way of (content of) longing

television='lgc'>: a medium whose chief mode of operation is in reruns, recombinations, circulating formats and generic adaptations that constantly ="trms">interweave national, regional and global scales ='lgc'>='lgc'>~= digital ="trms">social media

(Imre > Boyer) to trace nostalgia back to the intellectual o="trms"nttrm="righ,rigo,riga,rigi,trig,rign">rigins of European cultural nationalisms

...diverse and contradictory sentiments that make us see European cultures conjoined in ="trms">mutual ="trms">relationships of dependence, rather than separation

(Imre ='lgc'>='lgc'>-->) ='strcls'>*nostalgia as something by de="trms">finition national at its core='strcls'>*

nostalgia ='lgc'>--foreground='lgc'>='lgc'>--> coexistence of ="trms">different temporalities in the ="trms">present

post="trms">socia="trms"nttrm="listen,alist,ilist,llist,olist,ylist,ulist">list nostalgia in Romania is similar in structure to late ="trms">socia="trms"nttrm="listen,alist,ilist,llist,olist,ylist,ulist">list nostalgia of the 1980s in Hungary

manage feelings of dislocation ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> longing for national homes
='lgc'>='lgc'>~='lgc'>~='lgc'>='lgc'>--> preference for ="trms">literature and high art as expressions of what has been identified as cultural nationalism (“national tradition='lgc'> = tradition invested in high art”) ='lgc'>+ perceived illegitimacy of popular cultural production and ="trms">consumption (concealed by the allegedly rebellious “dissident” status of intellectuals) ='lgc'>==organize='lgc'>='lgc'>==> the contents of collective ="trms">memory


Imre ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> racialized underpinnings of allegedly “pure” ="trms">aesthetic judgments


inherently nostalgic and pre-="trms">modern post="trms">socia="trms"nttrm="listen,alist,ilist,llist,olist,ylist,ulist">list population ='lgc'><='lgc'>='lgc'>==> Western Europe as the epicentre of progressive ="trms">scientific ="trms">modernity


television's capacity for personalization and ="trms">narrativization

='strcls'>*demi="trms">world of popular culture='strcls'>*
television’s dominant ="trms">position within the domestic environment and its special appeal to an emotionally available female or feminine ="trms">consumer ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> television='lgc'>: the mass medium of the ="trms">socia="trms"nttrm="listen,alist,ilist,llist,olist,ylist,ulist">list period ='lgc'>--pose='lgc'>='lgc'>--> the d="trms"nttrm="danger,stranger">anger of a passive mindless ="trms">consumption of ="trms">formulaic ="trms">narratives (a d="trms"nttrm="danger,stranger">anger that has been ascribed to women’s inferior psycho="trms">social needs and tastes ='lgc'>=/= cerebral ="trms">modernist masculinity of art) ='lgc'>-='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='gtrw'>go to ="ppl">Baxstrom's realizing the witch


Western European cultural nationalisms

='thdf'>the notion of nostalgic and pre="trms">modern post="trms">socia="trms"nttrm="listen,alist,ilist,llist,olist,ylist,ulist">list population ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> Western Europe as the epicentre of progressive ="trms">scientific ="trms">modernity


West’s fanning of East European nostalgia ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> a post-imperial ="trms">symptom='lgc'> = (expression of a growing Western European awareness that) ="trms">modernity is p="trms"nttrm="failure,blur,plur,lurk,tallur,slur">lurinodal rather than centred in European metropolitan headquarters

="large lg3" stl="font-size:112%">
(postimperial European dimension of) ='strcls'>*cultural nationalism ='lgc'><='lgc'>~÷='lgc'>+='lgc'>-> nostalgia='strcls'>*
...utopian national rebirth scenarios for a united Germany ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> (promoted by intellectual artists) the bad idea that suppression of German nationalism ='lgc'>==open='lgc'>='lgc'>==> influx of American audio-visual culture (that muat be resisted in order to preserve and nourish German culture in its purest ="trms">literary manifestation)
= logocentric return to the ethos of German Romanticism ='lgc'>[Kulturnation ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> certain cultural identity ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> cliche-ridden elitist racist implications='lgc'>] ='lgc'>+ new nationalism ='lgc'>=/= results of Western ="trms">integration over the last forty years


aspirational ="trms">narrative (of nation...)

="large lg4" stl="font-size:111%"> postimperial power dynamic='lgc'>:
="lsts lst1">•western rese="trms"nttrm="search">archer ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> has the political capital to afford studying popular media
="lsts lst1">•eastern rese="trms"nttrm="search">archer ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> has to faithfully fulfill the role to re="trms">present their national culture (elite achievement)


(Bourdon >Imre) the most obvious European commonality ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='strcls'>**a focus on high culture='strcls'>**


national ="trms">specificities of ="trms">memory ="trms">systems developed around television

="large lg5" stl="font-size:147%">
nostalgia machine
="lsts lst1">•Putin ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> TV programming to a ="trms">literary Soviet ="trms">heritage
="lsts lst1">•Hungarian FIDESZ ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="trms">children’s channel of ="trms">socia="trms"nttrm="listen,alist,ilist,llist,olist,ylist,ulist">list ="trms">children’s programmes
="lsts lst1">•showcase oeuvre of popular performers from the ="trms">past
="lsts lst1">•rerunning vintage highbrow content='lgc'>: old films, television series and documentaries
="lsts lst1">•popular music's capacity to call up depoliticized ="trms">affective ="trms">memories
="lsts lst1">•commercials (='lgc'>--t="trms"nttrm="righ,rigo,riga,rigi,trig,rign">rigger='lgc'>='lgc'>--> post="trms">socia="trms"nttrm="listen,alist,ilist,llist,olist,ylist,ulist">list nostalgia)
="lsts lst1">•
='lgc'>}='lgc'>='lgc'>--> depoliticized reminiscences ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> an image of (="trms">socia="trms"nttrm="listen,alist,ilist,llist,olist,ylist,ulist">list) ="trms">sociality as a ="trms">natural connecting glue among citizens gathered around the warm glow of their favourite singers and cabaret actors

FIDESZ='lgc'> = alarming racism ='lgc'>+ anti-Semitism ='lgc'>+ drastic neoliberal economic restructuring ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> television='lgc'> = ="trms">interfaces of official state nationalism ='lgc'>+ commercial purposes of a nostalgia industry


(ghost of ="trms">dictators in) humorous commercial context='lgc'>:
="lsts lst1">•Tito in post-Yugoslav republic commercials (as anti-capita="trms"nttrm="listen,alist,ilist,llist,olist,ylist,ulist">list and anti-commercia="trms"nttrm="listen,alist,ilist,llist,olist,ylist,ulist">list hero)
="lsts lst1">•Ceausescu in commercials in Romania (old footage of him walking his dog in car tires ads)
="lsts lst1">•
='lgc'>}='lgc'>--Imre='lgc'>='lgc'>--> (blending) ='strcls'>*top-down ="trms">history lessons='strcls'>* ='lgc'>+ the work of ='strcls'>*popular ="trms">memory='strcls'>* ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> punctuate contemporary continuities with the ="trms">communist regime that are taboo in official ="trms">narratives but prevalent in popular perceptions of ="trms">history
(='lgc'>==Georgescu='lgc'>='lgc'>==> counter-="trms">memory ='lgc'><='lgc'>-- does it assist coming to terms with the ="trms">past, processing the paralyzing ="trms">past and the humiliating ="trms">present of globalization coupled with reactionary state control)
[...]