Hyperrealizing “Borat” with the Map of the European “Other”

Slavic Review ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dickie Wallace
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Cultural Background ◽  
The Other ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
Balkan Region ◽  
Cultural Connections

Sacha Baron Cohen maps a cultural background for his “Borat” character by creating a hyperreal Kazakhstan that is based, nonetheless, on gradations of a “real,” yet Orientalized, eastern Europe and Balkan region. Having no cultural connections to its actual Central Asian namesake, “Borat's Kazakhstan” is a Baudrillardian simulacrum because, for a western filmgoer, it essentially replaces the original. Scratching beneath the surface, however, we see that Baron Cohen composes his clown-journalist using exotic, yet familiar, “realities” from the “Other” in Europe's backyard. Using Edward Said's Orientalism (along with Milica Bakić-Hayden's and Maria Todorova's modifications of the idea), Dickie Wallace describes how this discursive bricolage of eastern European and Balkan music, language, folkloristic rituals, and archetypes, as well as continual tabu violations and commonsensical acceptance of violence, gives the character the sharp parodic elements that have had western audiences laughing even while wincing as they recognize themselves in this “Other.“

“Are you Hungarian or Romanian?” On the Study of National and Ethnic Identity in Central and Eastern Europe

2007 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 411-427 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alina Curticapean
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Identity ◽  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Central And Eastern Europe ◽  
The Other ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
Collective Identities ◽  
Topical Issue ◽  
Theoretical Concepts ◽  
Official Languages ◽  
The University

A personal note frames this essay. In recent years I have travelled with my Finnish colleagues from the University of Tampere to a number of international seminars and conferences organized in various European locations. While socializing with the other participants, my self-identification as Romanian has, on several occasions, prompted the question “are you Hungarian or Romanian …?“ No other options were ever offered, even though Romania has a quite sizeable Roma minority and a number of Saxons, though ever declining, still live in the country. At the same time, the ethnicity of my Finnish colleagues has never been questioned. True, Finns describe their country as a homogeneous place, yet Finland is a country with two official languages—Finnish and Swedish—ever praised for the treatment of its Swedish-speaking minority. And some other ethnicities—for instance, Roma and Sami—also live in Finland. Nobody interested? Or maybe there is more to it than simply a question of curiosity (or a lack of it). That the ethnicity of the Finnish participants was deemed irrelevant, whereas my ethnic identity seemed a topical issue for informal discussions during coffee breaks or conference lunches elicited my interest in the issue of national and ethnic identity. I have started to ask how collective identities, and especially national and ethnic identities, have been conceptualized and how those theoretical concepts have been deployed in the study of Central and Eastern European identities. Are there any differences in how Central and Eastern European identities are studied compared with Western identities?

A game of mirrors: Western/Eastern European crime series and the struggle for recognition

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caius Dobrescu ◽  
Roxana Eichel ◽  
Dorottya Molnár-Kovács ◽  
Sándor Kálai ◽  
Anna Keszeg
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
The Other ◽  
Social Imaginary ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
The West ◽  
The Social ◽  
State Of Affairs ◽  
Struggle For Recognition ◽  
Correct Image

Our article focuses on a corpus of crime television series reflecting upon differences between western and eastern Europe – a phenomenon that we will address as the ‘West–East slope’. The series figure as instances of the struggle for recognition at the level of the social imaginary, between western and eastern Europe. Addressing the double logic of the western narrative on eastern Europe and the eastern narrative of western Europe, one of our main findings is that the recognition aesthetics of eastern Europe produced a multi-layered representation of the West varying from country to country. On the other hand in western productions, there is still a bias towards a more politically correct image of easternness, a state of affairs that is questioned by eastern European attempts to produce their original contents.

Mikhail Gorbachev: The Decay of Socialism and the Renaissance of Eastern Europe (From the Perspective of an Insider)

2004 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ceslav Ciobanu
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Personal Experience ◽  
Economic Change ◽  
The Other ◽  
Market Reforms ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
Soviet Leader ◽  
Mikhail Gorbachev ◽  
Distinguished Leaders

This article provides an insider’s view of Gorbachev’s policy “perestroika and glasnost” as it related to the former Central and Eastern European socialist countries. The author describes Gorbachev’s relations with the leaders of communist parties of the Warsaw Treaty. A participant in many of Gorbachev’s meetings with his counterparts, the author analyzes the emergence of democracy and market reforms in these countries. He observed two distinct groups of socialist leaders, one relatively progressive and reform oriented and the other consisting of hardliners with traditional views opposed to any political and economic change. The author describes their attitude toward Gorbachev’s reforms. Based on his personal experience with the Soviet leader, the author also identifies some of the characteristics that made Mikhail Gorbachev one of the most distinguished leaders of the twentieth century, based on his personal experience with the Soviet leader. The author’s description highlights lesser-known aspects of Gorbachev’s performance that complete a portrait of this complex person.

scholarly journals WITOLD PŁOTKA, PATRICK ELDRIDGE (EDS.) EARLY PHENOMENOLOGY IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE. MAIN FIGURES, IDEAS, AND PROBLEMS. Contributions to Phenomenology. Vol. 113 Springer, 2020 ISBN 978-3-030-39622-0

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 320-327
Author(s):  
JAROSLAVA VYDROVÁ ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Literature ◽  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Central And Eastern Europe ◽  
The Other ◽  
European Identity ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
History Of ◽  
The One ◽  
Local Traditions

The collective volume Early Phenomenology in Central and Eastern Europe: Main Figures, Ideas, and Problems, edited by Witold Płotka and Patrick Eldridge, enriches the ongoing and highly topical research of the history of phenomenology with the thematization of a specific period and localization of phenomenology. The authors of eleven chapters explore the emergence of phenomenology in local traditions outside the Germanophone area, its appropriation and development, describing the unique forms it acquired in individual environments. The book clarifies the characteristics of the early wave of phenomenology and provides a list of Central and Eastern European phenomenologists who participated in it. On the one hand, the volume is a contribution to historiography, enriching the study of the history of phenomenology thematically and thus contributing to the development of phenomenology itself; on the other hand, it introduces its own set of philosophical problems. These concern methodology and the issue of the Central and Eastern European identity, which is examined through the prism of the development of local traditions of phenomenology. When exploring the latter it is useful to introduce the concept of the marginocentric. This concept, which originated in comparative literature, facilitates an understanding of the unique cultural configuration of a concrete tradition in its communication with internal and external environments.

scholarly journals The impact of Economics and Finance research published in Central and Eastern Europe

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Thomas M. Krueger ◽  
Nikolay Megits
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Central And Eastern Europe ◽  
Web Of Science ◽  
Research Quality ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
Scholarly Impact ◽  
The World ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Bibliometric Measures

Research quality dictates the reputation of faculty, colleges, and universities, regardless of their location. In order to shed some light on the quality construct, this research reports on the scholarly impact of economics and finance journals published in countries of Central and Eastern Europe.  A comparison of coverage by Web of Science (WoS), Scopus, and Cabell’s, three scholarly databases, reveals the lesser coverage of CEE journals within WoS and Scopus.  Examination of E&F journals published in Poland, Romania, and the remainder of CEE, as defined by the Journal of Eastern European and Central Asian Research, discloses that the level of quality varies by nation.  There are variations across the popular CiteScore, SJR, SNIP, and percentage of articles cited bibliometric measures.  Furthermore, this research documents the existence of impact variation between journals focused on Eastern Europe published in Eastern Europe and published elsewhere in the world. 

scholarly journals Ischaemic heart disease in the former Soviet Union 1990–2015 according to the Global Burden of Disease 2015 Study

Heart ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 104 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrianna Murphy ◽  
Catherine O Johnson ◽  
Gregory A Roth ◽  
Mohammad H Forouzanfar ◽  
Mohsen Naghavi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Heart Disease ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
Former Soviet Union ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
Death Rates ◽  
Central Asian

ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to compare ischaemic heart disease (IHD) mortality and risk factor burden across former Soviet Union (fSU) and satellite countries and regions in 1990 and 2015.MethodsThe fSU and satellite countries were grouped into Central Asian, Central European and Eastern European regions. IHD mortality data for men and women of any age were gathered from national vital registration, and age, sex, country, year-specific IHD mortality rates were estimated in an ensemble model. IHD morbidity and mortality burden attributable to risk factors was estimated by comparative risk assessment using population attributable fractions.ResultsIn 2015, age-standardised IHD death rates in Eastern European and Central Asian fSU countries were almost two times that of satellite states of Central Europe. Between 1990 and 2015, rates decreased substantially in Central Europe (men −43.5% (95% uncertainty interval −45.0%, −42.0%); women −42.9% (−44.0%, −41.0%)) but less in Eastern Europe (men −5.6% (−9.0, –3.0); women −12.2% (−15.5%, −9.0%)). Age-standardised IHD death rates also varied within regions: within Eastern Europe, rates decreased −51.7% in Estonian men (−54.0, −47.0) but increased +19.4% in Belarusian men (+12.0, +27.0). High blood pressure and cholesterol were leading risk factors for IHD burden, with smoking, body mass index, dietary factors and ambient air pollution also ranking high.ConclusionsSome fSU countries continue to experience a high IHD burden, while others have achieved remarkable reductions in IHD mortality. Control of blood pressure, cholesterol and smoking are IHD prevention priorities.

Southern African Responses to Eastern European Developments

1990 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 431-455 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas G. Anglin
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Cote D'ivoire ◽  
Côte D’Ivoire ◽  
The Other ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
Francophone Africa ◽  
Soviet Policy ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
New Thinking

Much has been written and said concerning the implications for Soviet policy towards Southern African of President Gorbachev's novoye myshlenie or ‘new thinking’, and its repercussions throughout Eastern Europe. On the other hand, comparatively little attention has been paid to the governmental and societal responses to these developments within Southern Africa. In part, this neglect reflects the fact that, until recently, the reaction has been rather muted, especially in comparison with the eruptionsin francophone Africa, notably in Algeria, Benin, and Gabon, but also Côte d'Ivoire, Madagascar, and even Zaïre. The reluctance to recognise the relevance for the region of the astonishing changes in Eastern Europe can largely be explained by an understandable preoccupation with more pressing domestic problems.

scholarly journals Economic crisis and security concerns of wholesalers in Eastern European and Central Asian countries

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 245-258 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayse Nilgun Balas ◽  
Halil Dincer Kaya
Keyword(s):  
Economic Crisis ◽  
The Other ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
Global Crisis ◽  
Crisis Period ◽  
Similar Percentage ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
Central Asian Countries

We examine how the 2008-2009 global crisis affected wholesalers’ spending on security and their losses due to crime in Eastern European and Central Asian countries. The results indicate that a similar percentage of wholesalers paid for security pre- and post-crisis. The results also indicate that the wholesalers that paid for security spent less on security post-crisis. A higher percentage of the partnerships and the larger wholesalers spent money on security post-crisis when compared to the pre-crisis period. On the other hand, fewer shareholding firms with shares traded privately and fewer firms with one or more female owners spent money on security post-crisis when compared to pre-crisis. Especially smaller firms, firms that are not part of a larger firm and sole proprietorships spent less on security post-crisis. Also, fewer wholesalers experienced losses due to crime post-crisis when compared to the pre-crisis period. Finally, our results indicate that, after the crisis, crime was seen as less of an obstacle by these firms.

Loyalty to the Crown or Polish Patriotism? The Metamorphoses of an Anti-Polish Story of the 1863 Insurrection

2004 ◽  
pp. 81-95
Author(s):  
Israel Bartal
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
Jewish History ◽  
The Other ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
Jewish Society ◽  
European Jewish ◽  
Polish Culture ◽  
The One ◽  
19Th And 20Th Century

This chapter assesses the 1863 Polish insurrection, which had significant echoes in the Jewish society of Eastern Europe. That community, dispersed throughout the diverse areas of the former Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, often found itself in a situation which recurred a number of times in 19th- and 20th-century Jewish history: between the hammer of the Empire and the anvil of the autochtonic nation aspiring for independence. Resolving the matter of which side to favour was often an urgent, concrete question. On the one hand, the Jews were faithful to a long tradition of loyalty to the Crown, a tradition which grew stronger in the decades preceding the Rebellion even in haskalah circles; on the other hand, the Polish nobility and broad strata in Eastern-European Jewish society had been closely associated for many generations, an association still very strong in the mid-19th century. Jewish memoirs offer many descriptions of the Jews' situation during the Polish uprisings against the Russian regime in 1831 and 1863. Those Jews who had drawn closer to Polish culture identified with the Polish objectives. The Polish side, however, demonstrated lack of faith in the Jews and oftentimes accused them of spying for the Russians.

Travels with Kafka

Philip Roth ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 267-298
Author(s):  
Ira Nadel
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Eastern Europe ◽  
International Organization ◽  
The Other ◽  
Milan Kundera ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
Country Report ◽  
Bank Account ◽  
Male Characters ◽  
The Impact

Roth travels to Prague and encounters the dissident writers of Czechoslovakia and Eastern Europe. He begins his “Writers from the Other Europe” series (1974–89) and creates new contacts with authors like Ivan Klíma, Milan Kundera, and Danilo Kiš. He provides for these disenfranchised writers by establishing a bank account with support from Updike, Styron, and Cheever. Soon the impact of Eastern Europe appears in early drafts of American Pastoral started in 1972, immediately after his first trip to Prague. The impact of of his exposure to Eastern European writers appears in works like “Looking at Kafka,” The Prague Orgy, and The Professor of Desire. He writes a 1973 “Country Report” on Czechoslovakia for PEN, the international organization supporting freedom for writers. And in New York in 1975, he accidentally meets Claire Bloom and begins a lengthy relationship. Discussion follows of Roth’s savior complex and how his male characters respond to passive, vulnerable women.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document