The Cultural Cold War and the Global South: Sites of Contest and Communitas

This volume explores the cultural sites of the global Cold War, examining how writers, artists, filmmakers, and intellectuals from or aligned with the Third World navigated ideological and material constraints. It highlights the situated, interpersonal, and embodied dimensions of the cultural Cold War, emphasizing the connections and disjunctures between citizens and media.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 354 pages
Publication date: 09 January 2023
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

This comprehensive volume delves into the cultural landscapes where the global Cold War unfolded, unveiling the intriguing and complex encounters that emerged as writers, artists, filmmakers, and intellectuals from or aligned with the Third World navigated the ideological and material constraints imposed by superpowers and emerging regional powers. Frequently, these encounters sparked camaraderie and unity, while at other times, they exacerbated existing conflicts. Building upon recent scholarship that explores the Cold War in the Global South and incorporates postcolonial approaches, our contributors employ a diverse range of archival, secondary, and ethnographic sources to trace the enduring legacies and memories of pivotal figures, as well as examine the cultural diplomacy meetings that shaped the course of the Cold War.

By centering our attention on sites of encounter or exchange, we emphasize the situated, interpersonal, and embodied dimensions through which a significant portion of the cultural Cold War was experienced. While the global conflict created divisions among citizens along ideological lines, it also interconnected people through the circulation of media, including novels, films, posters, journals, and theater, as well as multinational conferences that brought artists, intellectuals, and political activists together. Such interactions introduced novel axes of solidarity and hierarchies of exclusion. By examining these connections and disjunctures, this groundbreaking mapping of the cultural Cold War sheds light on under-explored regions in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, contributing to a more comprehensive understanding of this pivotal period in global history.

Weight: 684g
Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780367679385