Young Jews from the post-Holocaust "third generation" in Central Europe are challenging the traditionally passive ethnic identification of their parents and grandparents throughout the last half century and are reaffirming their Jewish identity.
On 5 August 1999, the conflict between Vladimir Zelezny, the licence holder of Central and Eastern Europe's most successful commercial TV station, Nova, and the station's American service providers came to a head.
Jan Culik
Theme of the Week Consumerism in Central and
Eastern Europe
CONSUMERISM:
"We have learned the freedom to consume very well." Andreas Beckmann An interview with Yvonna Gaillyova, one of the leading figures in eco-counselling in the Czech Republic, on the nature of consumerism in post-Communist Central Europe.
CONSUMERISM:
Back to the Future Vaclav Pinkava Czechs are losing their inclination toward inventiveness as their DIY economy becomes a service economy. This is precisely what happened in the UK.
CONSUMERISM:
Shop till You Drop Gusztav Kosztolanyi Even in Communist times, Hungary was something of a consumer society. Now, shopping is a full-blown pastime, and Hungarians are wondering if capitalism was such a good idea after all.
CONSUMERISM:
The Convenience Revolution Andrew Stroehlein Consumerism also has its positive effects. Paramount among these is the improvement of women's lives and ultimately their standing in society.
A WESTERNER'S SURVIVAL GUIDE:
On Guilty Poems, Librettos and Photographs Tomas Pecina Shakespeare was lucky to have been English; had he been Czech, he could easily have ended up guilty of writing his plays under the wrong Queen...
AMBER COAST:
Abrasive over Pensions Mel Huang No one doubts there is a crisis in Latvia's social services sector. But is Prime Minister Andris Skele resorting to authoritarian methods to solve the problem?
MIORITA:
Two Minutes and Twenty-Three Seconds Catherine Lovatt Superstition and science joined together for the total eclipse in Romania, as the country was distracted for a few minutes from its economic and political problems.
CULIK'S CZECH REPUBLIC:
Czech Media and Civil Society: A survey Jan Culik The instruments of speech for the nation - media and the education system - have been paralysed, and there is no systematic public debate about the most important issues of public interest.
BALKAN ENCOUNTER:
The Bad Blood of Kosovo Sam Vaknin The historical legacy and the nature of Serb involvement in Kosovo.
THE KINOEYE ARCHIVE This new sub-site aims to be the definitive index of Internet resources on Central and East European cinema.
KARLOVY VARY:
Dictatorship of Love
Viacheslav Sorokin's Totalitarnii roman Andrew J Horton It is autumn 1968, the Prague Spring has just been crushed, and a young Soviet dissident takes refuge first in a small Siberian town and then in an
improbable romance.
N E W G E N E R A T I O N:
Confronting Jewishness Part I - How the idea of generation died
For those in Central Europe who are grandchildren of the survivors of the Second World War, Jewish identity has long been rumoured to be a largely unconscious affair, if not completely extinct. In post-war Central Europe, somewhere between the twin temptations of assimilation and emmigration, the concept of generations died. Today, a group of young intellectuals from this post-Holocaust "third generation" are challenging this view and reaffirming their Jewish identity.
Have a look at CER's list of books on the region - all available from Amazon.com. The list is divided into five subject headings: cinema, literature, politics, history and economics.
Kinoeye
