Velvet Retro: Postsocialist Nostalgia and the Politics of Heroism in Czech Popular Culture (Worlds of Memory Book 2)

"Scholars of state socialism have frequently invoked "nostalgia" to identify an uncritical longing for the utopian ambitions and lived experience of the former Eastern Bloc. However, this concept seems insufficient to describe memory cultures in the Czech Republic and other contexts in which a "retro" fascination with the past has proven compatible with a steadfast critique of the state socialist era. This innovative study locates a distinctively retro aesthetic in Czech literature, film, and other cultural forms, enriching our understanding of not only the nation's memory culture, but also the ways in which popular culture can structure collective memory"-- Provided by publisher Contents Figures Acknowledgements Abbreviations Introduction: Returning to the Past Chapter 1 Painting the Past Black and White: Czech Anticommunism after 1989 Chapter 2 The Past as Comedy: Representing Socialism in the 1990s Chapter 3 The Late 1990s: Contesting the Past through Popular Culture Chapter 4 Petty Heroism: Nostalgia for Resistance Chapter 5 The Politics and Aesthetics of Retro Chapter 6 Changing Memory Landscapes in the 2000s Conclusion: Socialism Remembered Bibliography Index