From self-colonisation to conquest in Eastern European postcommunist musicals

Abstract

This article examines four Eastern European musicals made during the period of postcommunism, but presenting life under state socialism, Czech Šakali leta (Big Beat, 1993), directed by Jan Hřebejk, Hungarian Made in Hungaria (2009), directed by Gergely Fonyó, and two Polish films, Córki dancingu (The Lure, 2015), directed by Agnieszka Smoczyńska and Zimna wojna (Cold War, 2018), directed by Paweł Pawlikowski, from the perspective of their attitude to both western and their own culture and popular music. The argument is that each film assesses this culture differently and this assessment can be seen as a reflection of the period when these films were made and which they depict, the aspect of Western culture they focus on, as well as the position of indigenous popular music in the communist period. An additional reason to put these films together is that they use the trope of somebody returning to his native country from the real or imaginary West. The piece draws on the history of Eastern Europe and its popular music and the concept of self-colonisation.