Television Memories
'This is the very best memory of my childhood, probably because in the day I was at school and in the evening they showed us cartoons. And then afterwards my grannies said to me: "That's it, time for bed! That's it!"
The Screening Socialism project contained a substantial interview component, which examined individuals’ memories of state socialist television and everyday life. For each country being analysed, roughly thirty structured interviews were conducted. Interviewees were asked a range of question about what, where, and how they watched television, and for their memories of a number of shows.
Apart from providing important insights into everyday practices of TV viewing and everyday life from the perspective of audiences, these interviews also enabled us to examine the involvement of television in the formation of vernacular memories of state socialism. We have paid attention, among others, to the generational dynamics of memory, the reasons for the continued popularity of socialist-era TV programmes in post-socialist Eastern Europe, and the role of emotions in memories of state socialism.
The results of this work were published in a themed issue of the European Journal of Cultural Studies in 2017. For full details see under Publications.