Syllabus
1. Central and Eastern European (CEE) popular culture and folklore between East and West (introductory lecture)
2. What is popular culture in CEE? (Reading: John Storey)
3. What is folklore and vernacular culture in CEE? (Reading: Petr Janeček)
4. Socialism and postsocialism vs. popular culture (Reading: Boris Buden)
5. Folklore behind the Iron Curtain: CEE vernacular cultures during Communism (Reading: Christie Davies)
6. Marxism and popular culture (Reading: Antonio Gramsci, Guy Debord – film)
7. Urban legends in CEE: From Flüsterpropaganda to adoration of neoliberalism (Reading: Lajosz Czaszi)
8. From subcultures to postsubcultures (Reading: David Muggleton)
9. Re-traditionalization, nationalism and identitarianism (Reading: Ladislav Holy)
10. Digital Natives: Internet vernacular cultures of the CEE (Reading: Kaarina Koski)
11. Quest for the Folk Again: re-traditionalization of the Millenials (Reading: Joseph G. Feinberg/TBA)
12. Field trip: The CEE culture of mushrooming
Annotation
The course provides an introduction to phenomena of popular culture and folklore of Central and Eastern Europe
(CEE) with special emphasis on Czech social and cultural context.
Firstly we introduce a range of theoretical approaches to study popular culture and folklore, exploring the intersection between everyday life, mass media, and broader political and historical contexts within the CEE. We will discuss key theoretical readings in the study of popular culture and folklore, including ideology and hegemony,
(post)subculture, commodification, vernacular culture, cultural practice, folklore vs. folklorism vs. folkloresque, postsocialism, and nationalism.
Secondly, building on knowledge of these conceptual approaches, we will examine a range of themes in popular culture and folklore in CEE such as media transformation, the elite exchange/continuity, re-nationalization and re- traditionalization, Westernisation, glocalisation, and retro-movement. These issues will be presented on the empirical case studies not only from contemporary Czech culture, but also in Czech-Slovak comparison within the
CEE context.
Requirements for the students will comprise regular reading, attendance of field lessons (film, field trip) and writing an essay on particular problem of Czech popular culture.