Television and Totalitarianism in Czechoslovakia: From the First Democratic Republic to the Fall of Communism

Author:   Martin Štoll (Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic)
Publisher:   Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
ISBN:  

9781501374210


Pages:   304
Publication Date:   29 October 2020
Format:   Paperback
Availability:   Manufactured on demand   Availability explained
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Television and Totalitarianism in Czechoslovakia: From the First Democratic Republic to the Fall of Communism


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Overview

The story of Czechoslovak television is in many respects typical of the cultural and political developments in Central Europe, behind the Iron Curtain. Martin Štoll, with unprecedented access to the Military Historical Archives in Prague, provides contextual insights into the issues of introducing television in the whole Socialist Bloc (save China, Mongolia and Cuba), from the introduction of television broadcasting in Czechoslovakia in 1921 through to the 1968 occupation and the Velvet Revolution in 1989 – encapsulating an important point in media history within two totalitarian states. Television and Totalitarianism in Czechoslovakia examines the variability of political interests as reflected on television in interwar Czechoslovakia, including Nazi research on television technology in the Czech borderlands (Sudetenland), the quarrel over the outcomes of this research as war booty with the Red Army, the beginning of the Czechoslovak technological journey, and, finally, the institutionalized foundation of Czechoslovak television, including the first years of its broadcasting as a manifestation of Communist propaganda. Revised and expanded from the Czech to include broader contexts for an English-speaking audience, Štoll expertly elucidates the historical, cultural, social, political, and technological frameworks to provide the first comprehensive study of the subject.

Full Product Details

Author:   Martin Štoll (Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic)
Publisher:   Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Imprint:   Bloomsbury Academic USA
Weight:   0.408kg
ISBN:  

9781501374210


ISBN 10:   1501374214
Pages:   304
Publication Date:   29 October 2020
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Tertiary & Higher Education
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand   Availability explained
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

List of Abbreviations Acknowledgements Introduction Part One: Why Don't We Have Television? 1 - Radio Context: One Million Listeners 2 - Pioneers of Television 3 - Television as Political Matter Part Two: Will Television be Based on Nazi Devices? 4 - In the Hands of the Military 5 - Post-war Uncertainty Part Three: Television Should Serve Communist Ideology 6 - Context of Soviet Patterns in the Television Space of the Eastern Bloc 7 - TV Birth in Stalinism 8 - Experimental Broadcasting 9 - Television and Political Communication 10 - Birth of the TV Nation 11 - Occupation in 1968 12 - Television as the Last Instrument of Power Part Four: Toward Public Service 13 - Television as a Participant of the Velvet Revolution 14 - Birth of the Public Broadcaster Conclusion Appendix Bibliography Index

Reviews

A remarkable account, including the history of early efforts in interwar Czechoslovakia to introduce TV broadcasting to a technologically advanced country. Martin Stoll shows that television broadcasting in the post-war period was far more than a crude propaganda tool abused by the communist regime for its purposes. An important study which breaks stereotypes. * Jan Culik, Senior Lecturer in Czech Studies, University of Glasgow, UK *


This is the first comprehensive English-language survey of Czechoslovak television's history, covering the whole cycle of transition from the First Republic to democracy. In such a way the book serves as a political and cultural introduction to the history of Czechoslovak television, providing a kind of master narrative of the topic ... An interesting, readable and thought-provoking introduction both to the history of the medium and to the cultural history of Czechoslovakia and Eastern Europe. * Studies in Eastern European Cinema * A remarkable account, including the history of early efforts in interwar Czechoslovakia to introduce TV broadcasting to a technologically advanced country. Martin Stoll shows that television broadcasting in the post-war period was far more than a crude propaganda tool abused by the communist regime for its purposes. An important study which breaks stereotypes. * Jan Culik, Senior Lecturer in Czech Studies, University of Glasgow, UK *


Author Information

Martin Štoll is Professor at the Institute of Communication Studies and Journalism in the Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic. He specializes in documentary film, history and theory, television studies and historical contexts of television broadcasting. He has lectured at universities in Great Britain, Finland, Poland and Slovakia, and was Principal of the Literary Academy (The Josef Škvorecký Private College). He has also worked as commissioning editor for Czech Television and has directed fifty-five documentary films.

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