Popular Music and the Moving Image in Eastern Europe

Popular Music and the Moving Image in Eastern Europe is the first collection to discuss the ways in which popular music has been used cinematically, from musicals to music videos to documentary film, in Eastern Europe from 1945 to the present day. It argues that during the period of state socialism, moving image was an important tool of promoting music in the respective countries and creating popular cinema. Yet despite this importance, filmmakers who specialized in musicals lacked the social prestige of leading 'auteurs' and received little critical attention. The resulting scholarly prejudice towards pop culture created a severe shortage of critical studies of the genre.

With the fall of state socialism - and with it, the need for economically viable film and media industries - brought about an unprecedented upsurge of films utilizing popular music, and a greater recognition of popular cinema as a legitimate object of study. Popular Music and the Moving Image in Eastern Europe fills the gap and demonstrates why the popular music-cinema interface needs to be theorized with respect to the political, ideological, and social forces invested in popular culture.

“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