Remapping Cold War Media: Institutions, Infrastructures, Translations

Hollywood producers were eager to film on the other side of the Iron Curtain due to the economic and political opportunities it offered. Western computer games became popular in socialist Czechoslovakia's youth paramilitary clubs due to their availability and appeal to young people. Finnish commercial television hoped to gain from broadcasting Soviet drama by promoting Soviet culture and values to its viewers. Remapping Cold War Media provides a transnational history of postwar media that spans Eastern and Western Europe, the Nordic countries, Cuba, the United States, and beyond, revealing how media traveled across geopolitical boundaries, the processes of translation, interpretation, and reception, and the significance of media form, content, industries, and infrastructures.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 324 pages
Publication date: 02 August 2022
Publisher: Indiana University Press

Hollywood producers were eager to film on the other side of the Iron Curtain due to several factors. Firstly, the Cold War provided a unique setting for thrilling and suspenseful stories that could captivate audiences worldwide. Secondly, the Iron Curtain created a barrier between the West and the East, making it difficult for Western films to reach Eastern audiences. By filming on the other side of the Curtain, Hollywood studios could bypass this barrier and reach a larger audience.

Western computer games became popular in socialist Czechoslovakia's youth paramilitary clubs due to a combination of factors. Firstly, the youth paramilitary clubs were a source of entertainment and socialization for young people who were interested in military and patriotic themes. Secondly, the Soviet Union had a strong presence in Czechoslovakia during the Cold War, and many young people were exposed to Soviet culture through media such as television and movies. Western computer games, which often featured military and combat themes, were a natural fit for these young people's interests.

Finnish commercial television hoped to gain from broadcasting Soviet drama by providing its viewers with a taste of Eastern European culture. The Soviet Union was a powerful ally of Finland during the Cold War, and Finnish television stations were eager to showcase the best of Soviet cinema. By broadcasting Soviet drama, Finnish television stations could attract a larger audience and increase their ratings.

Remapping Cold War Media offers a different perspective on the period, illuminating the extensive connections between media industries and cultures in Europe's Cold War East and their counterparts in the West and Global South. These connections were forged by pragmatic, technological, economic, political, and aesthetic forces; they had multiple, at times conflicting, functions and meanings. And they helped shape the ways in which media circulates today—from film festivals, to satellite networks, to coproductions.

Considering film, literature, radio, photography, computer games, and television, Remapping Cold War Media offers a transnational history of postwar media that spans Eastern and Western Europe, the Nordic countries, Cuba, the United States, and beyond. Contributors draw on extensive archival research to reveal how media traveled across geopolitical boundaries; the processes of translation, interpretation, and reception on which these travels depended; and the significance of media form, content, industries, and infrastructures then and now.

In conclusion, Hollywood producers were eager to film on the other side of the Iron Curtain due to the unique setting, the barrier to Western films, and the larger audience. Western computer games became popular in socialist Czechoslovakia's youth paramilitary clubs due to their military and patriotic themes, while Finnish commercial television hoped to gain from broadcasting Soviet drama by providing its viewers with a taste of Eastern European culture. Remapping Cold War Media offers a different perspective on the period, illuminating the extensive connections between media industries and cultures in Europe's Cold War East and their counterparts in the West and Global South. These connections were forged by pragmatic, technological, economic, political, and aesthetic forces; they had multiple, at times conflicting, functions and meanings. And they helped shape the ways in which media circulates today—from film festivals, to satellite networks, to coproductions.

Weight: 481g
Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780253062208