History as Entertainment: On the Popularization of the Soviet Past in Eastern European Cultures: Belarus, Ukraine, Russia

Popular media plays an important role in collective imaginations of history. The volume investigates this phenomenon by examining examples from Belarusian, Russian, and Ukrainian popular cultures. The contributors analyze the strategies of dramatization, emotionalization, and personalization of the past in mainstream films, TV series, novels, comics, computer games, and music videos. The case studies discuss how entertaining media formats process dramatic events and ruptures such as the Second World War, the Gulag, the Chernobyl disaster or the downfall of the Soviet Union. The volume provides new insights into Eastern European cultures in times of political conflicts and digital revolution.