Popular media plays an important role in reconstructing collective imaginations of history. The
contributors to the volume investigate this phenomenon using case studies from Belarusian
Russian and Ukrainian popular cultures. Dramatic events and ruptures of the 20th century
provide the material for playful as well as neo-imperialist and nationalist appropriations of
the past. They show how in mainstream films TV series novels comics and computer games the
reference to Soviet history offers role models action patterns and even helps to justify
current political and military developments. The volume thus presents new insights into the
multi-layered and explosive dynamics of the popular cultures of Eastern Europe.
