This talk will examine the deep and often troubling change of Central European cities after the fall of state socialism by using Prague as its case. It will look specifically at following transformations: a collapse of traditional Prague-based manufacturing and … Read more
Blurring the borders between fact and fiction, heroism and stupidity, Velvet Terrorists is a film about minor and foiled terrorist plots against the Czechoslovak communist regime. The film focuses on three protagonists, whose tragicomic tales of resistance and resilience of … Read more
Introduction by Chad Bryant (History, UNC-Chapel Hill) A complex portrait of alienation and loneliness, this meticulously composed film is based on the true story of Olga Hepnarová, the last woman to be executed in the former Czechoslovakia. Desperate to break … Read more
Eric Naiman is Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures and Bernie Williams Chair in the Department of Comparative Literature at the University of California at Berkeley. He works in the fields of ideological poetics, sexuality and history, history of medicine, Soviet … Read more
Filmed in 1967, but kept from release for twenty years, Alexander Askoldov’s The Commissar is unquestionably one of the most important, complex, and paradoxical films of the post-war Soviet era. Based on a short story by Vasily Grossman, it tells of a … Read more
Introduction by Inga Pollmann (GSLL & Comparative Literature, UNC-Chapel Hill) When young Lili is forced to give up her beloved dog Hagen because its mixed-breed heritage is deemed “unfit” by the State, she and the dog begin a dangerous journey … Read more
A number of scholars have stressed the multilingual character of Jewish culture in various countries. In the case of Polish Jews the three main languages were Hebrew, Yiddish and Polish, although German and Russian also played a role, especially during … Read more
Mixing brave social commentary with a dark and absurd sense of humor comes naturally to the celebrated Polish director Małgorzata Szumowska, but she pushes these two elements into compelling new territory with Body. The lives of a young woman with … Read more
This talk attempts a reading of Ivan Turgenev’s First Love (1860) as a case study within a broader inquiry into the social imaginary of Russian realist fiction. One way to formulate the central question of the talk is to ask … Read more
This presentation will examine the judicial and legal framework that, starting in 2010, has reshaped Hungary’s news media in dramatic ways and has resulted in an unprecedented polarization in civil society. Dr. Lilla Tőke will in particularly focus on the number of nonprofessional … Read more
