Popular Music and the Moving Image in Eastern Europe

This book changes the current miniscule landscape by proposing twelve chapters reflecting the way popular music has been used in musicals, biopics, music videos and documentary film in Eastern Europe from 1945 to the present day. The historical period renders this offering even more interesting, in view of the huge impact of the political regime change three decades ago, but also that of more recent transnationalization, commodification and neoliberalization of the creative industries. * Studies in Eastern European Cinema *
Popular Music and the Moving Image in Eastern Europe offers a refreshing and original contribution to the research on the region’s cultural production. The authors vigorously demonstrate the paramount importance of the interface between cinema and popular music in negotiating hegemonic cultures and ideologies. * Elzbieta Ostrowska, Lecturer in English and Film Studies, University of Alberta, Canada *
The volume offers valuable insight into the intersections of film and popular music in Eastern Europe through a set of intriguing case studies from Hungary, Poland, Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic, Romania, Bulgaria, and Yugoslavia, spanning an extensive time period, although primarily focusing on the socialist era and its nostalgic evocations through music and film in postsocialism. Ranging from musical films – a strong focus of the book – to contemporary (Hungarian) rap or (Bulgarian) folk pop music videos, the contributions enable comparisons with regard to the musical and cinematic construction of past and present, localities and identities across genres and among different national environments within Eastern Europe. The chapters also offer unique explorations of the construction and representation of the East–West relationship as lived socially and culturally. * Emília Barna, Assistant Professor, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Hungary *
The study of popular music in Eastern Europe is a relatively new area. In this wide ranging and informative collection, Ewa Mazierska and Zsolt Gyori have assembled a range of contributors who not only provide new insights into the role of musicals in East European cinemas but also examine the relatively uncharted areas of disco, music video and rap music. Examining the situation under both state socialism and capitalism, they provide original historical accounts together with new theoretical applications and insights. The book provides essential reading and an important expansion in the field of popular music studies. * Peter Hames, Visiting Professor in Film Studies, Staffordshire University, UK *