From Media Systems to Media Cultures: Understanding Socialist Television (Communication, Society and Politics)

Description

In From Media Systems to Media Cultures: Understanding Socialist Television, Sabina Mihelj and Simon Huxtable delve into the fascinating world of television under communism, using it to test a new framework for comparative media analysis. To understand the societal consequences of mass communication, the authors argue that we need to move beyond the analysis of media systems, and instead focus on the role of the media in shaping cultural ideals and narratives, everyday practices and routines. Drawing on a wealth of original data derived from archival sources, programme and schedule analysis, and oral history interviews, the authors show how communist authorities managed to harness the power of television to shape new habits and rituals, yet failed to inspire a deeper belief in communist ideals. This book and their analysis contains important implications for the understanding of mass communication in non-democratic settings, and provides tools for the analysis of media cultures globally. Cover Half-title page Series page Title page Copyright page Contents List of
Figures List of
Tables Acknowledgements List of
Abbreviations of Archival Sources 1 Introduction Part I Concepts and Contexts 2 Comparing Media Cultures 3 State Socialist Television in Historical Context 4 Television and Varieties of Modernity Part II The Spaces of State Socialist Television 5 Publicness 6 Privacy 7 Transnationalism Part III The Times of State Socialist Television 8 Everyday Time 9 History 10 Extraordinary Time 11 Conclusions Methodological Appendix References Index