Over the Wall/After the Fall maps a new discourse on the evolution of cultural life in Eastern Europe following the end of communism. Departing from traditional binary views of East/West, the contributors to this volume consider the countries and the peoples of the region on their own terms. Drawing on insights from cultural studies, gender theory, and postcolonial studies, this lively collection addresses gender issues and sexual politics, consumerism, high and popular culture, architecture, media, art, and theater. Among the themes of the essays are the Western pop success of Bulgarian folk choirs, the Czechs' reception of Frank Gehry's unconventional building in the center of Prague, bohemians in Lviv, and cryptographic art installations from Bratislava.
Contributors are Mark Andryczyk, Andaluna Borcila, Halina Filipowicz, Sibelan Forrester, Elena Gapova, Rainer Gries, David Houston, Bill Johnston, Paul Krainak, Willard Pate, Anca Rosu, Carol Silverman, Vera Sokolov‡, Wisllawa Szymborska, Joanna Trzeciak, Lisa Whitmore, and Magdalena J. Zaborowska.
". . . a hot subject in today's scholarship . . . and a groundbreaking project of vital significance to the field of cultural studies at both 'western' and 'eastern' geographical locations." --Elwira Grossman
Sibelan Forrester is Associate Professor of Russian at Swarthmore College.
Elena Gapova is Associate Professor and Director of the Centre for Gender Studies at European Humanities University in Minsk.
Magdalena J. Zaborowska is Associate Professor in the Program in American Culture and the Center for Afroamerican and African Studies at the University of Michigan.
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Preface
Magdaelana J. Zaborowska, Sibelan Forrester, and Elena Gapova, "Introduction:
Mapping Postsocialist Cultural Studies"
PART I. (RE-)VISITATIONS
Andaluna Borcila, "How I Found Eastern Europe: Televisual Geography, Travel
Sites, and Museum Installations"
Elena Gapova, "The Nation In Between; or, Why Intellectuals Do Things with
Words"
Lisa Whitmore, "Prenzlauer Berg Connections: The Trajectory of East German
Samizdat Culture from Socialism to Capitalism"
Magdalena J. Zaborowska, "Reading Transparent 'Constructions of History'; or,
Three Passages through (In)Visible Warsaw"
David Houston, "Can Prague Learn fro L.A.? Frank Gehry's Netherlands National
Building in Prague"
Bill Johnston, "Heteroglossia and Linguistic Neocolonialism: English Teaching in
Post-1989 Poland"
Anca Rosu, "Projections of Desire: Robert D. Kaplan's Balkan Ghosts and
the Crisis of Self-Definition"
PART II. (RE-)ADAPTATIONS
Halina Filipowicz, "Shifting a Cultural Paradigm: Between the Mystique and the
Marketing of Polish Theatre"
Rainer Gries, "'Hurrah, I'm Still Alive!' East German Products Demonstrating
East German Identities"
Paul Krainak, "Cryptographic Art of Bratislava: Configurations of Absence in
Post-Communist Installation Art"
Carol Silverman, "'Move Over Madonna': Gender, Representation, and the 'Mystery'
of Bulgarian Voices"
Mark Andryczyk, "Four Bearings of West for the Lviv Bohema"
Vera Sokolov‡, "'Don't Get Pricked!' Representation and the Politics of
Sexuality in the Czech Republic"
"Benni Goodman," "Afterword: From Big Brother to Big Burger (And What's the Grand Narrative Got to Do with It?)"
Selected Bibliography
Contributors
Index
216 pages, 12 b&w illus., 6 1/8 x 9 1/4
Cloth, 0-253-34432-8, $60.00
Paper, 0-253-21696-6, $30.00