Television and Political Communication in the Late Soviet Union

Based on extraordinary research in the Soviet archives and on extensive interviews with Soviet television viewers themselves, this rich and compelling book lets us get to know Soviet television through the voices of Soviet people. We learn what it was like to bring home a first television set, arrange your home and daily routines around it, and experience the powerful feelings and identifications this new medium evoked. Kirsten Bönker's incisive and original account demonstrates decisively that the experience of watching Soviet TV was not reducible to the black and white of conformity and dissent, and that the emotional ties Soviet TV fostered continue to shape post-Soviet Russian cultural and political life.

Autorentext

Kirsten Bönker is visiting professor of East European history at the University of Göttingen and research fellow at the Gerda Henkel Foundation.

Klappentext

This study draws on archival sources and oral history to examine how Soviet television involved audiences in political communication. The author argues that Soviet media tested audiences' emotional commitments to the Soviet lifestyle and its values, thus contributing to the sociopolitical durability of the Soviet Union until perestroika.

Inhalt

Introduction: Watching Television, Emotional Bonding, and Political Communication in the Late Soviet Union
Chapter 1: TV Sets Capturing Soviet Homes
Chapter 2: Winning the Time, Hearts and Minds of the Viewers
Chapter 3: Negotiating the Boundaries of Popular Culture: Soviet Television, Leisure, and the Educational Mission
Chapter 4: Working with "Emotional Means": Soviet Television's Relationship with the Audience
Chapter 5: Addressing the Viewer-consumer: Consumer Issues on Soviet TV