Eastern European Youth Cultures in a Global Context

Matthias Schwartz is a Research Associate at the Centre for Literary and Cultural Research Berlin, Germany. His research interests include the cultural history of Russian and Soviet adventure literature, science fiction and popular sciences; Eastern European youth cultures, memory cultures and cultures of affect; and contemporary literatures in a globalized world.Heike Winkel is a Research Fellow and lecturer at the Institute for East-European Studies at Freie Universität Berlin, Germany. Her research interests include the Stalinist Soviet Union, contemporary Russian and Czech literature and culture with a focus on identity politics, mnemonic aspects of literature, and intersections of history and literature.

• Introduction; Matthias Schwarz and Heike Winkel PART I: RECONSIDERING GENERATIONAL CHANGE1. The End of Childhood and/or the Discovery of the Tineidzher? Adolescence in Soviet and Post-Soviet Culture; Catriona Kelly2. Youth Cultures and the Formation of a New Political Generation in Eastern Europe; Ken Roberts3. Fast Forward to Capitalism? Accelerated Youth in Post-Socialism; Herwig Reiter and Christine Steiger4. Revival Without Nostalgia. The Dizel' Movement, Serbian Nineties Cultural Trauma and Globalized Youth Cultures; Jovana Papovi? and Astrea Pejovi?5. Symptom of the Loser and the Melancholy of the Post-Soviet Generation; Tamara HundorovaPART II: POPULAR BELONGINGS: SUBCULTURAL PLACES AND GLOBALIZED SPACES6. 'Rap on Rap is Sacred': The Appropriation of Hip Hop in the Czech Republic; Anna Oravcová7. Flaming Flares, Football Fanatics and Political Rebellion. Resistant Youth Cultures in Late Capitalism; Dominik Antonowicz, Rados?aw Kossakowski andTomasz Szlendak8. Everything Feels Bad. Figurations of the Self in Contemporary Eastern European Literature; Matthias Schwartz9. 'Bright reference point of our youth'. Bondy, Podsiad?o, and the Redefinition of the Underground; Alfrun KliemsPART III: RESHAPING POLITICAL ACTIVISM: BETWEEN REBELLION AND ADJUSTMENT10. Fallen Vanguards and Vanished Rebels? Political Youth Involvement in Extraordinary Times; Félix Krawatzek11: 'To serve like a man' – Ukraine's Euromaidan and the Questions of Gender, Nationalism and Generational Change; Sabine Roßmann12. The Conception of Revolutionary Youth in Maksim Gor'kii's The Mother and Zakhar Prilepin's San'kia; Matthias Meindl13. 'Polittusovka' – An Alternative Public Space of Young Politicians in Contemporary Russia; Anna ZhelninaPART IV: CONTESTED AGENCY: CIVIC ENGAGEMENT AND EVERYDAY PRACTICES14. Youth Cultures in Contemporary Russia: Memory, Politics and Solidarity; Elena Omelchenko and Guzel Sabirova15. Public Discourse and Volunteer Militias in Post-Soviet Russia; Gleb Tsipursky16. Battlefield Internet: Young Russian SNS Users and New-Media State Propaganda;Vera Zvereva17. 'Flashy' Pictures: Social Activist Comics and Russian Youth; José Alaniz18. Youth in the Post-Soviet Space. Is the Central Asian Case Really so Different?; Stefan B. Kirmse

In a context of significant and ongoing political change, this collection provides a rich and valuable window on youth cultures in Eastern Europe, with a focus on everyday routines rather than the more spectacular images of a minority that tend to dominate in the western media. Moreover, some of the research presented suggests that aspects of the Eastern experience are becoming increasingly evident in Western Europe. The collection offers a fresh perspective on the experiences of Eastern European youth and provokes thought about the future of the West. This is a book that deserves to be read by anyone with an interest in youth cultures or in the transformations taking place in Eastern Europe.'- Andy Furlong, University of Glasgow, UK