Haunted Present

Alexander Prokhorov is Professor of Russian and Film Studies at The College of William & Mary.Elena Prokhorova is Professor of Russian and Film Studies at The College of William & Mary.Rimgaila Salys is Professor Emerita of the Russian Program at the University of Colorado Boulder and an expert in 20th century Russian literature, film, and culture.

• Note to ReadersIntroductionAlexander Prokhorov, Elena Prokhorova, Rimgaila SalysThe Slavic BalkansNeo-Noir after Yugoslavia: The Fourth Man and A Balkan NoirMarina FilipovicThe Czech RepublicThe Past in the Shadow: Explorations of Czechoslovak History en noirPhilip Tuxbury-GleissnerPolandWe Have Lost Our Way: The Return of Negative Affect in Contemporary Polish Noir SeriesElżbieta Ostrowska, Kamila ŻytoA Neo-Noir Cop Out in Piotr Domalewski’s Operation Hyacinth (Hiacynt, 2021)Helena GosciloRussiaThe Ephemeral Presence of Noir in Soviet CinemaElena Prokhorova, Alexander ProkhorovFemme Fatale as Wife and Mother in the Russian Television Drama Ordinary WomanIrina Souch“We Are Not in Sweden”: The Dead Lake as a Russian Take on Neo-NoirTatiana MikhailovaDiatlov Pass: Neo-Noir Engages Russia’s Buried PastRimgaila SalysVampires Guard the Status Quo: Russian Gothic Noir in the Pre-War years (2020-22)Mark LipovetskyOur Serial Killers, Ourselves: Russian Neo-Noir TV as a Symptom and Self- IncriminationElena Prokhorova, Alexander ProkhorovUkraineTowards a Ukrainian Neo-Noir: History, Contexts, and the Case of Oleh Sentsov’s RhinoVitaly ChernetskyFilmographyIndex

“This lively and well-written collection is a timely contribution to both Slavic cultural and film studies, which illuminates how noir and neo-noir have served as a ‘dark mirror’ exploring unprocessed traumas of the Soviet/socialist experience: corruption, repression, historical erasure, treatment of minority populations, patriarchal gender constructions, and others. In its comparative approach and interrogation of noir and neo-noir cinema in a range of cultures and time periods, including classical Hollywood noir and Nordic neo-noir, the book is also an outstanding contribution to global film studies.”—Dr. Justin Wilmes, Associate Professor of Russian Studies, East Carolina University “This innovative volume examines how a growing set of neo-noir productions in contemporary Eastern European film and television address and mediate historical trauma. Bringing together incisive essays analyzing media from across the Balkans, Eastern Europe, and Russia, The Haunted Present deepens our understanding of noir’s transnational reach and significance. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of film and television, as well as to noir enthusiasts more generally.”—Dr. Christine Evans, Associate Professor of History, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.