Konferenssi: East - West (Re)Negotiations: Popular Culture as a Means of Collective Memory

East - West (Re)Negotiations: Popular Culture as a Means of Collective Memory at the University of Tampere, December 10-11, 2009.

Organized by the Department of English Philology (Senior Assistant Matti Savolainen) and the Department of Russian Language and Culture (Professor Arja Rosenholm), School of Modern Languages and Translation Studies, University of Tampere.

During the recent years, the monolithic terms "East" and "West" have been challenged in critical theory. However, these terms remain essential in the rhetorical construction of natural and cultural identities in the field of popular culture. At the turn of the millennium, East-West rhetoric continues to be used both in American and Russian official and unofficial discourses to imagine national unities and differences. Both countries are involved in the globalization of cultural traditions, becoming subjects of and being subjected to what we know as American-type popular culture. The linking element is not only the overpowering force of Western popular culture but also the emphasis on national traditions: we can see how both U.S. and Russian discourses have lately returned to "tradition" and "traditional values", such as patriotism, authority, religion and the family.

See more here.