Title of the article:

“OLD SONGS ABOUT THE MAIN THINGS” TV PROJECT. INTERPRETATION OF THE SOVIET CULTURE’S LEITMOTIFS

Author(s):

Daria A. Zhurkova

Information about the author/authors

Daria A. Zhurkova — PhD of Culturology, Senior Researcher, Mass Media Arts Department, The State Institute for Art Studies, Kozitsky per., 5, 125009 Moscow, Russia. ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0752-9786. E-mail: jdacha@mail.ru

Section

Theory and history of culture

Year

2021

Volume

Vol. 59

Pages

pp. 33–47

Received

April 29, 2020

Date of publication

March 28, 2021

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.37816/2073-9567-2021-59-33-47

Index UDK

008

Index BBK

71(2)+76.032(2)

Abstract

The paper deals with reinterpreting of the Soviet culture’s mythologemes in “Old songs about the main things” TV-project (1995–2001). Over the course of three parts of the project, one may observe some features of reconstructing of three main topics: labor, interpersonal relations and ideological clichés. The realities of the nineties had a great influence on the development of these topics. Whereas in the first part of the TV-project, along with irony, there was a certain nostalgia for the orderly mode and visual results of agricultural activities, the third part, instead of poetizing the image of the Soviet worker, seeks to reflect complexity of organization and tension of the show industry functioning. The theme of interpersonal relations is also undergoing a fundamental transformation. Compared to the first part, where the authors tried to recreate the lost feeling of unconditional benevolence towards others, in subsequent parts there is an ironic deconstruction of the very possibility of sincere feelings, which are replaced by the cult of a lone star. The script of the TV-project is also abundant in ideological clichés of the Soviet era, which, interspersed with re-advertised slogans, revealed semantic emptiness of the new consumption ideology.

Keywords

entertainment TV, music show, Soviet culture, Soviet pop, popular music, recycling, nineties, nostalgia, song

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