Description
Book SynopsisThis book uses the case study of public television in post-communist Latvia to explore the question of how audiences respond to TV offerings, and how their choices can be seen as an act of agency. Jānis Juzefovičs builds his book around Albert O. Hirschman’s classic concepts of exit, voice and loyalty – the options available to a person within any system. He uses Hirschman’s ideas, along with tools from social constructionism, to assess how the publics of both the Latvian-speaking majority and the large Russian-speaking minority have responded to the role of public television in the nation-building efforts of the new Latvian state. Along the way, he develops our understanding of public broadcasting more generally, and the way it can be used to define a national 'we'.
Trade Review'At the time of political preoccupation with hybrid and information warfare, this book
offers insights into postcommunist television audiences. The book contains rich ethnographic findings, and will be of use to those interested in Latvian nation-
building efforts as well as ethnolinguistic dynamics.'
-- Dmitrijs Andrejevs, Journal of Baltic Studies 49.3, July 2018
'Jānis Juzefovičs’ monograph Broadcasting and National Imagination in Post-Communist Latvia: Defining the Nation, Defining Public Television provides detailed insight into the media and TV viewing habits of ethnic Latvians and Russian speakers in Latvia. Juzefovičs’s research angle and his methods allow him to go beyond generalised attributions and positions...This is an important book not only for scholars interested in media habits and public television but also for those who would like to understand the diversity of Latvia’s population.'
-- Katja Wezel, Slavic Review, Winter 2018
Table of ContentsBroadcasting and the Construction of National ‘We’
Jānis Juzefovičs (Not) At Home: Public TV and Its Publics of the Ethno-linguistic Majority and Minority
Jānis Juzefovičs Television News Preferences and a Sense of Belonging: The Case of Panorama and Vremya
Jānis Juzefovičs Celebrating the Arrival of New Year Twice: Public TV and National Celebrations
Jānis Juzefovičs Popular Culture Bringing the Nation Together: The Case of Live Sports Broadcasts and the Eurovision Song Contest
Jānis Juzefovičs
